That Man in the Box
by AccioVoldemortsNose
Summary: A 900 year old alien. A girl working in a mundane bookshop. All of time and space at their fingertips. What could possibly go wrong? Set after Journey's End. 10/OC
1. The Blue Police Box

**Hello everyone. So first things first, this story is basically if Ten had another series in which he takes along this companion. I felt like him being alone so suddenly was too sad, so I decided to fix it. There is mention of 10/Rose as they are one of my biggest OTPs but as we all know they won't ever be together again *sobs***

**Let's also take a moment to remember that I am American. If I use words improperly, please feel free to let me know. I'll happily change it.**

**I don't own anything you recognize.**

* * *

**Chapter One**

**The Box and the Tree**

**A Blue Police Box**

_River fumbled with the cables on her lap, trying her best not to look at the Doctor as he laid unconscious with his wrist handcuffed to the pillar. She heard him as he came out of his slumber and braced herself._

_"Auto destruct in two minutes."_

_"Oh, no, no, no, no," he said worriedly as he properly came to, trying to yank his hand free. "Come on, what are you doing? That's my job!"_

_River smiled sadly but she didn't answer._

_The Doctor looked around and spotted what held him down. "Why am I handcuffed? Why do you even have handcuffs?"_

_She couldn't help herself as her smile turned flirtatious. "Spoilers."_

_"This is not a joke, stop this now," he demanded sternly. "This is gonna kill you! I'd have a chance, you don't have any."_

_"You wouldn't have a chance, and neither do I," River answered. "I'm timing it for the end of the countdown. There'll be a blip in the command flow. That way it should improve our chances of a clean download."_

_"River! Please! No!"_

_She ignored him. "Funny thing is, this means you've always known how I was going to die. All the time we've been together, you knew I was coming here. The last time I saw you, the real you, the future you, I mean - you turned up on my doorstep, with a new haircut and a suit. She was along with you. She looked so happy, but her eyes were sad. You both took me to Darillium to see the singing towers. Oh, what a night that was! The towers sang and you both cried."_

_"Auto destruct in one minute."_

_"Neither of you would tell me why, but I suppose you knew it was time. My time. Time to come to the Library. You even gave me your screwdriver - that should've been a clue."_

_River stopped talking and watched as the Doctor noticed her diary along with the screwdrivers. He reached for them desperately, but his attempt was in vain. They were out of his reach, just like she wanted them to be._

_"There's nothing you can do," she told him._

_He was unconvinced. "You can let me do this!"_

_"If you die here, it'll mean I've never met you! It means she never met you!"_

_"Time can be rewritten."_

_River shook her head. "Not those times. Not one line! Don't you dare! It's okay. It's okay, it's not over for you. You'll see me again. And you'll meet her. You'll meet her soon. And she'll be the best thing that happens to you."_

_"Who is 'she?' You keep saying 'she.' Is it that Emma? The one you thought was with me?"_

_"Spoilers. But I can tell you this. You two will run. You'll run to the farthest reaches of the universe and back again. She'll be everything. She'll be the woman who saved the universe. She'll be my best friend." River couldn't stop the tear that slipped down her face._

_She could tell he was becoming frantic. "River, you know my name!"_

_"Auto destruct in ten..."_

_"You whispered my name in my ear."_

_"...nine, eight, seven..."_

_"There's only one reason I would ever tell anyone my name. There's only one time I could..."_

_River smiled gently. "Hush, now! Spoilers..."_

_"..three, two, one..."_

_She put the cables together and then there was nothing._

* * *

It was another overcast day in Greenford while Emma sat behind the counter of New Leaf Books. She was bundled up from the lack of proper heating (William still hadn't fixed it yet); her warm, periwinkle scarf wrapped around her neck and her black fingerless mittens over her hands. She lost count of how many jumpers she had on. Damn January weather.

On the counter sat her laptop - which was open to her brainstorming page - as well as her mobile and a book on the French Revolution. She had been leafing through it before Mr. Mott walked in for his weekly chat and to pick up another book. Why he came to Ealing from Hounslow for books, she would never understand; but he was a pleasant old man and she didn't mind talking to him. After he left, Abigail had called and wanted to chat.

"I'm at work," Emma told her older cousin after answering the ringing mobile.

"It's a Monday!" Abigail exclaimed. "Surely business is slow."

It was true, Mondays were not a particularly active day. But then again, most days weren't. It was one of the reasons she was able to work all day everyday. The shop got just enough customers to make a profit and keep the Scott family from going under.

"So," Abigail drawled, "have you gotten a date for my wedding yet?"

Emma scowled as she practically heard the smile in her cousin's voice. She unconsciously ran her hand through her pin straight cherry colored hair and let it fall to the counter with a thump.

"Abby..."

"Emma! It's next week!"

"I don't need a date, Abigail." Emma exhaled loudly and pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling like a petulant child. "I'm happy like this, okay?"

"Oh, Emma." Abigail sounded sad. "You're not happy."

This was true. Emma was far from happy. After a freak fire in the flat next to hers, she moved back to her parents house in Greenford from her dream flat in Sutton. She had hoped to move back after the reconstruction was complete, however it seemed the renovators a were complete rubbish and she gave up hope after the fourth time their finish date was delayed. And so she stayed with her parents, filling the void that had been left behind once her younger twin brothers had left for Cambridge. Thus, she was stuck working in her mother's bookshop day after day.

"I just..." Emma tried to think of words that could possibly describe her thoughts. "Do you remember when we were children and grandmother would look up at the sky and tell us stories about the stars?"

Abigail paused. "You want to travel to the stars?"

"No." Emma shook her head and leaned back in her chair; the single leg creaking as it bent. "I want to tell stories like her. She learned them from some people in Greece, did you know? I want to go to Greece. I want to hear stories and tell them to my children and grandchildren. I wish - I wish something amazing would happen to me."

On the other line, Abigail sighed. "I know the feeling. Do you know how long it took me to find Simon?"

At this, Emma groaned comically loud, though her lips were twitching upward. Before she could respond, the bell above the door dinged and she stood up as a tall man walked into the shop. He wore rectangular glasses upon his nose and a smile was playing on his lips. He came in and leaned his elbows on the counter, his face resting in his hands. His chocolate brown hair was sticking up in random directions and Emma had to admit it was rather amazing hair. A long tan coat hung over a brown pinstriped suit, just about reaching the floor. He was rather cute, she noted, but tried to ignore this fact. There was no need to get all awkward with an attractive customer.

"Abigail, I have to go," Emma said into her mobile.

"Oh, is someone there? Is it a boy?"

Emma didn't bother answering and instead ended the call with the press of a button. She carelessly threw the phone on the counter and smiled at the man. "I'm sorry," she said.

"No problem," he replied cheerfully. He stood up straight an slipped his hands into his suit pockets. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"You just did." Emma instantly regretted her cheekiness; however the man grinned happily.

"Then I'll ask you another." He put his hands on the counter and leaned forward. "Has anything weird happened here lately?"

Emma quirked an eyebrow. "Is that some sort of threat?"

The man looked horrified. "Oh, no, no, no. Not at all." His expression then became questioning. "So everything's been...normal?"

"Yeah," she answered slowly and then sighed. "Perfectly boring like always."

"I wouldn't say it's boring." The man looked around the shop. "Look at all these books! I like books. They're powerful. So many words inside them, forming sentences, paragraphs. Pages upon pages of simple letters that put together tell us the lives of people we never met." He smiled and looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Amazing, huh?"

Emma was a bit baffled. "I never thought of it that way. My mum prefers to sell nonfiction books as opposed to fiction. Don't get me wrong, I love history, I just overly enjoy getting lost in fictional worlds." Realizing she was rambling, a slight blush crept into her cheeks and she looked down sheepishly. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

He smiled rather mischievously once she gathered up the courage to meet his gaze. "I'm good, thank you." He turned to leave, but just as he reached the door, he paused. He turned around. "What's your name?"

"Emma," she answered without delay. "Emma Scott."

"Well, Emma Scott, I guess this is goodbye."

Before she could ask him his name, he was out the door, his coat blowing out from behind him.

* * *

It was after closing time that Emma gathered her things. She left the store and locked it up, entering the cold, January air. It nipped at her skin, so she pulled her scarf and jacket tighter around her. Once she stuffed her hands in her coat pockets and let out a huff of air which froze in front of her face, she realized her laptop still sat at the counter. Cursing under her breath, she hastily pivoted on her heel and hurried back to the shop. She grabbed the laptop and stuffed it into her messenger bag swiftly before heading to leave the shop again. However, there was a strange wheezing noise coming from the back room that caught her attention. Her mind went through a list of things that could possibly make that noise, but nothing seemed to fit. Wary, she slowly walked past the counter and the endless shelves until she reached the door which led to the back.

She turned the handle and pushed the door open as it creaked. The light was off (that had to be a good sign) and so she felt the wall for the light switch before flicking it upwards. What she had expected to find was a room piled with extra books on tables and shelves, ready to be sorted. Instead, she found that plus something extra.

A box.

A blue police box.

Well, that was unexpected.

Emma bit her lip before leaving the back room and going back to the counter. She picked up the phone and quickly dialed the home phone number, waiting for her mother to pick up.

"Hello?" Natalie's voice flitted though.

"Mum, when did you get a police box?" Emma asked.

Natalie made a noise of confusion before answering. "I didn't buy a police box. Why would I buy a police box?"

"I dunno, that's why I called you." Emma looked back at the door, unable to see the box from where she stood. "I heard a weird noise from the back room and when I looked I found a police box sitting there."

"Love, police boxes aren't even used anymore."

Emma frowned. "If you didn't buy it, then why is there one here?"

"Maybe you've just had a long day; why don't you just lock up and come home, okay?"

Emma was not fond of the implication that she was hallucinating the box, but knew her mother had a point. Sitting in a boring book shop almost all day drove her crazy. But why a police box? She suddenly heard the wheezing noise again, but ignored it.

Instead of questioning the whole ordeal, she obeyed Natalie without hesitation. After saying goodbye, she went to close the door and saw that the room no longer held the box. The space where it had sat was now empty as if it had never been there in the first place. Her forehead creased and her mouth dipped in a frown. She could have sworn that box had been there and she realized that box was going to bother her to no end until she could figure out if it had been real or not.

It was a ten minute walk from the shop to Costons Lane; but with at least forty centimetres of snow on the ground that was shoveled into random places, about five to ten extra minutes were added. The sun was just setting as her boots crunched the blanket of freezing whiteness beneath her. She shivered as an arctic wind blew past her harshly.

Once she reached her home and entered through the door, the smell of her mother's cooking drifted by. She closed the door and locked it, kicking her boots off and hanging up her jacket and scarf.

"I'm home!" she called, walking through the narrow hall that led to the kitchen.

The kitchen was small; the granite countertops almost completely surrounding Natalie as she finished preparing the meal. The right branched off into a dining room and off from that was the living room. The beige curtains that hung from above the sliding doors were pulled aside, revealing the yard which held Natalie's beloved flower garden.

"How's the shop?" Natalie asked as Emma wandered into the dining room, dropping her bag on the floor.

"Slow as usual." She debated for a moment on whether to mention the mysterious man in the glasses and coat, but ultimately decided to kept that secret. Perhaps he had known about the strange box?

"So about the police box," Natalie continued, bringing two plates of pasta over to the dining table.

"I think I just imagined it." Emma went into the kitchen and brought over some forks and napkins and placed them on the table around the dishes. She then helped her mother bring over glasses of water (Natalie was one of those rare Brits that didn't like tea) and the two sat down together to begging their meal.

"Sort of an odd thing to imagine," Natalie remarked as she cut into the pasta with her fork. "Why would you see a police box?"

Emma held back a rude retort. "I dunno, I just did. But it's gone now. There's nothing to worry about." In order to avoid speaking of the police box anymore, she attempted to change the subject. "Where's dad?"

"He had to work late." Natalie took a bite and swallowed. "I suspect he will be around in an hour or so."

It was then small talk that filled up the silence while the mother and daughter ate dinner. Emma was typically never one for conversation, but her mind was filled with thinking about the mysterious suited man and the police box. She was undeniably itching to return to the shop and see if the box was back. Part of her was sure it would be there, but another part - the one with common sense - told her that the box had never existed in the first place and that returning to the shop would be a waste of time. Yet, for the first time ever, she desired to be at shop more than anywhere else in the world.

After supper, Emma helped clean up and then retreated to her room. The place was tidy and simple, just how she liked it. The originally whitewashed walls had been painted over and over again throughout her childhood and now were a beautiful blue color (a man in a bow tie had suggested it to her) and were bare except for a bulletin board on which hung a calendar and a few photographs. Other than that there wasn't much to the room except the window, the bed, the closet, and the desk with the chair. Emma had grabbed her bag and brought it up with her, sliding out the laptop and setting it on her desk. She opened it up and turned on the power as she went to change into something more comfortable. Once in her favorite pair of pajamas, she sat down and stretched her fingers.

It was once she brought up her brainstorming document that she heard the wheezing noise again, this time coming from outside the house. It was obvious it was somehow related to the strange box, so she instantly jumped up and hastily drew back the curtains from her window. The sky, now dark, made it hard to see anything on the street except for what was touched by the street lights' illumination. She looked down and saw that the box was down there, across the street. She could barely see it for only half of it was visible. The other half was hidden in shadows. Without any hesitation, she took off down the stairs and out the front door. It wasn't until her feet landed in a pile of snow that she realized she was barefoot. However, when she looked across the street at the exact same spot she saw that the box was gone. In her excitement, she had not even heard he wheezing noise again.

Disappointed, she frowned and returned to her room. She threw herself onto her bed, suppressing a scream. She could not quite understand why the box sparked something in her. Perhaps it was its mysterious and impossible appearances and disappearances. Perhaps it was the fact it was in her mother's shop and then right outside her home. Perhaps it was simply because it was different and she wanted different. But the true, underlying reason was because wanted to be inside that box. She _wanted_ the box.

* * *

The next morning her mother prepared breakfast bright and early like everyday. Emma refrained from speaking of the box and it seemed that Natalie had either forgotten it or had no interest in pursuing any further and instead babbled on about how William came home late and left too early. After eating, Emma dressed in her usual tights, shorts, jumper, and - considering the weather - boots ensemble. It was off to the shop she went, her bag swinging on her shoulder and the leftover snow crunching as she stepped upon it.

The streets were nearly empty except for parked cars scattered about. Emma found herself more conscious of her surroundings; her eyes constantly searching for the blue police box. Sadly, there was no sign of it and she entered the shop a tad bit crestfallen. Nonetheless, the day had to go on.

It went by slowly at first. A few people came in and made their purchases. Someone unfortunately bought the book on the French Revolution that Emma was enjoying, but she let it go when she realized it wasn't even her book. She had her lunch break and some tea around one before returning to her job. And all day she waited for the box. It was driving her insane. She even had to close her laptop and cease brainstorming because of that stupid box. Why did it have to be so mysterious?

Emma found herself simply standing at the counter, one hand holding up her head. Her other hand tapped repeatedly on the counter impatiently. She was aware of how strange it was to think the box would come back for her. Why would it? It was just a bloody box. Since when did she have a connection with a box?

As she contemplated, she barely noticed a customer walk in. To her surprise once she saw him, it was the same strange man from the day before. He no longer wore the glasses, she observed, but he still wore the suit and the coat. And today he most definitely looked like he was coming in for a reason.

He suddenly whipped out a large book from inside his coat (how it fit in there she didn't know) and showed it to her. "Where did you get this?"

Emma read the title (it was Les Miserables) and she frowned. "Hang on, I haven't put that out yet. How did you get it?"

"I need you to tell me where you got it," he demanded.

She put her hands on her hips. "Not until you answer my question. Where did you get it?"

"I'm sorry, but this is really important." He placed the book on the counter. "I need to know where you got it."

Emma shook her head. "I dunno; my mum takes care of shipments. I just put the books out and sell them. But how in the world did you get it? It's in the back room!"

"Last night," he answered nonchalantly. "I got it last night."

He then proceeded to open up on side of his coat and take out some strange object. Was it a pen? A really thick pen? And hold on - he got the book the prior night?

"Wait a minute." Emma ran out from behind the counter and followed the man. He was pointing the weird pen thing at all the different books. It made a strange buzzing sound as he used it and a blue light emitted from the tip. "You were in the back room last night, yeah?"

"Yep," he answered, popping the "p."

"And so was the police box."

He stopped what he was doing and looked at her. "You were there?"

"Only long enough to see it." She stepped in front of him. "So what is it then? The box I mean. Is it some sort of teleport? Are you a spy? Are you working for the government using things that they haven't shown to the public yet? Am I some sort of threat and you need to spy on me?"

The man looked taken aback and almost overwhelmed. His eyebrows were squished together and his mouth was open in confusion. "What?" he finally said. "How could you - what?"

"That box; it's yours, right?" she asked and he nodded. "And it appeared and disappeared in the back room. I heard it! And then you were at my house last night, too."

At this the man looked as though he was trying to solve a crossword puzzle that was written in the form of sudoku.

"But I wasn't at your house last night." He looked away in thought.

"But you were," Emma insisted. "I heard that noise and I looked out the window and the box was there."

"But I wasn't there," he repeated. "Huh. That's interesting." He finally looked at her again, a smile forming on his lips. "Oh, Emma Scott. You're brilliant!"

Despite this random declaration and its moment of appearance, she was rather flattered. "Um, thank you?"

"You're welcome, Emma Scott. You're going to be brilliant. You must be."

Now Emma was as confused as he had been before. She was displeased with the role switch and strongly desired for it to reverse again.

"Has anyone told you you're a bit..." She struggled to find a word. "...weird."

The man smiled so happily she thought his it might break his face. "They never stop."

Emma crossed her arms over her chest. "Who are you?"

"Well, I'm the Doctor."

This made her quirk an eyebrow. "The Doctor? Doctor who?"

"Just the Doctor."

"What's your real name?"

He was still smiling. "The Doctor."

"Surely your parents didn't name you that. Who names their child the Doctor?"

"Who names their child Emma?"

She uncrossed her arms and stood back angrily. "Hey, at least I'm not named after a profession."

"And I wouldn't want it any other way. Now -" At this point he put his hands on her shoulders "- Emma Scott, let's solve a mystery."

He ran off then, his coat billowing out from behind him. Emma saw he was running to the counter and followed almost obediently, but mostly out of curiosity. She watched as the man - the Doctor - began to rifle through all sorts of drawers, looking through binders and folders. Part of her wanted to scold him for being invasive and not asking if he could go through the shop's personal files, but another part silenced her. She didn't want to scare him off just in case he would let her inside his box.

When she approached him, she saw he was using that device again. It was buzzing as he pointed it at the different objects at the counter.

"What is that thing?" she asked.

"Sonic screwdriver," he answered without looking up. "You said your mother ordered the books?"

She stood on the tips of her toes and watched him carefully. "Yeah. I think I have a list of the companies we've bought from and what we purchased."

"I need you to find it."

She didn't hesitate as she hurried into the back room. There were some filing cabinets hidden among the extra books and Emma was sure she'd find where Natalie had gotten Les Miserables. Once she got to the cabinets, she pulled one of the metal drawers open and began to sift through the folders, reading the different forms tucked away in each one. She smiled happily when she found the folder which held a purchase of several copies of Les Miserables. Strangely, though, only one had been sent. How had she not seen that before?

With the success of her discovery, she grabbed hold of the folder and returned to the shop where the Doctor was examining the counter with his screwdriver.

"I found it," she told him, holding the folder open with one hand. "She got the book from a company called Two Branches."

The Doctor smiled and shook his head in what appeared to be disbelief. "Oh, that is perfect!"

Emma couldn't stop the smile that she returned. "Why is that book important anyway?"

He took the folder from her hand and started skimming the pages within it. "That book is very powerful. It was made from a specific tree and it seems that for some reason those books ended up here." He closed the folder and looked up at he ceiling. "But why? Why here? Oh!" He looked at her again. "Do you have a particular interest in France?"

"In France?" she repeated. "Well, a little bit. I mean, I was reading a book on the French Revolution because I want to be an author and the novel I'm writing takes place in France and I was hoping to do some research."

"Where is that book?"

"Oh, I sold it today." She cringed when she realized he wanted it. "Should I not have?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Don't worry about it. You didn't know. However, I want to look at this list." He handed the folder back to her. "Now tell me what all these books have in common."

She went over the list again and saw that they all had once thing connecting them. It was so blatantly obvious that it made her want to curl up in a corner and pretend she didn't exist

"They all have to do with France," she answered. "That's why you asked me that then, right? But why would my mum buy so many books about France?"

"I don't think your mother ordered these books."

His ominous statement made Emma feel uncomfortable. It wasn't necessarily the Doctor himself, but it was the fact a company had shipped books to her and in her endless boredom never questioned the order. Not once did she wonder why a whole order had been dedicated to France.

"I think it's time we paid a visit to Two Branches, don't you?" the Doctor asked her with a mischievous smirk. For some reason she couldn't stop the grin that spread widely over her face. She nodded in agreement and before she knew it, he had grabbed her hand and the two were running out of the store. It was cold outside, like it was supposed to be, but she barely noticed the wind nipping at her exposed skin. All she noticed was the police box sitting on the pavement on the other side of the street. She and the Doctor stopped outside the shop and he looked down at her as she admired the box. She then returned his gaze and smiled again.

With that, the Doctor took off running again, Emma's hand still in his. They sprinted across the street and she realized they were going to enter the box. Its small size briefly crossed her mind as he pushed open the door (despite the sign saying "pull") and pulled her inside. She had expected to be squished in there along with the Doctor (not that she would've minded) but instead there was no small space. In fact, there was plenty of room to move.

Because it was bigger.

It was bigger on the inside.

"Oh, this is cool," Emma muttered to herself as the door closed behind her. She slowly stepped up the grated ramp, looking at the coral design around her and the panel of buttons and levers up ahead. The Doctor had taken off his long coat and thrown it haphazardly on one of the supports. He was running around the console in the center, pushing things and pulling things here and there. The thing in the middle was making strange noises, lit up and moving. It was all so weird and brilliant at the same time.

"It's - it's..."

"Go on, then," said the Doctor excitedly. "What d'you think?"

Emma felt so much amazement that she could've cried. "It's bigger on the inside."

"That's what I like to hear!"

There was a definite thump as if the box had just fallen on something. Emma looked around in alarm for just a moment before the Doctor was running again, taking her hand as he passed her. They hurried out the door and she gasped as she saw they were no longer on Greenford Road. Instead they were inside some sort of abandoned warehouse. There were large puddles on the concert floor. The windows were cracked and broken, allowing a cool breeze to drift through. The metal supports were rusty and the high ceiling had holes scattered about it.

As the Doctor took out his screwdriver again and used it, aiming it at the air around him, Emma ran around the box several times. Nothing about the box made any sense, nor did the man that was standing a matter of feet away from her. It was then that she realized the Doctor was a complete stranger to her. She let a complete stranger take her in a strange box and then transported her to an empty warehouse. For all she knew, he was some sort of assassin sent to kill her. But who would want her dead? She may not have been incredibly social, but she was sure there was no one that hated her that much.

"How did we get here?" she finally asked, finding her voice.

The Doctor lowered his screwdriver, but stared straight ahead. "The TARDIS took us here."

He then ran off again, though slower this time as his feet splashed in the puddles, making the bottoms of his trouser legs wet. Emma quickly followed him, running faster to keep up with his long legs.

"What's a TARDIS?" she asked. They stopped as they found a regular metal door with rusty hinges.

"It's my spaceship," he answered with a smile, finally looking at her again.

Emma raised her eyebrows questioningly. "Your spaceship? Your spaceship is a police box."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, that's just a disguise."

"Couldn't you disguise at something normal?"

"How is a police box not normal? Who's going to wonder why they're looking at a police box?"

"Me!" Emma shook her head. "So does that mean your an...an alien?"

The Doctor smiled again. "Technically you're the alien. You humans with your one heart."

Emma's eyes went wide. "How many hearts do you have, then?"

"Two, but enough about me!" He pointed his screwdriver at the door handle. "Let's see what's behind this door. Allons-y!"

The door unlocked and opened for them. The Doctor lowered his screwdriver and slowly pushed the door open. Light streamed out from behind the door and Emma found herself leaning forward to see what was there. The Doctor slipped through the space between the door and the frame, her following him. He took her hand again and pulled her down as they looked around the room.

Now this was a warehouse. Well, more like factory. Same difference.

There were large machines set up everywhere with conveyor belts connecting them. There were people walking around them dressed in uniforms and others up on higher floors. On some belts were tree branches and others were fully printed books. She looked up at the machine they were hiding behind and read the writing that was stamped onto the metal.

"Two Branches," she read out loud softly. "So this is where the books came from?"

"It seems so," the Doctor answered her. "And it seems just as bad as I thought it was."

Before she could question him any further, a new voice came from behind them.

"Halt, intruders!"

Both Emma and the Doctor slowly turned around to find a large gun raised and pointed in their faces.


	2. Wish Upon A Branch

**Chapter Two**

**The Box and the Tree**

**Wish Upon A Branch**

Emma looked from the barrel of the gun to the holder of it. She stifled a gasp as she took in the being's appearance. It was some type of metal robot with two circles for eyes and a circle where the mouth would be. It was tall and was dressed as some type of security guard with a belt that held all sorts of different devices.

"Who are you?" the robot asked in a monotone, robotic voice.

"I'm the Doctor," said the Doctor before motioning to his companion, "and this is Emma."

"The Doctor. Identification: Time Lord. Species: Time Lord. Emma. Identification: Unknown. Species: Unknown. Please state your full name."

Emma looked warily to the Doctor who nodded at her. "Emma Bailey Scott," she said.

"Emma Bailey Scott," the robot repeated. "Identification: Human. Species: Unknown."

She frowned and her forehead creased. "Unknown? How can it be unknown? I'm human!"

"Species: Unknown."

The Doctor cleared his throat, looking anxiously between Emma and the robot. "What exactly is going on here?"

"Information classified."

"Well, that's not fair." He put his hands in his pockets and rolled on the balls of his feet. "Security override alpha delta..." He squinted his eyes. "Three?"

"Code incorrect. The Doctor is unable to access any files."

His eyebrows shot up. "Oh, they know who I am? That's not good." He took a hand out of his pocket and pulled on his ear unconsciously. "Who are they, anyway? Who are you working for?"

"Information classified."

"What're you going to do with us?"

"Intruders must be detained."

The Doctor smiled brightly. "Brilliant! That works out perfectly. Go on, then!"

He put out his arms, his fingers curled into fists. Emma stared at him, completely flabbergasted as the robot lowered its weapon and slipped it into the holster on its belt. He then took off a pair of handcuffs and easily clicked them around the Doctor's wrists. Emma was uneasy with such compliance, but when the Doctor motioned for her to copy him, she did without question. Handcuffs were placed around her wrists as well, the cold metal sitting uncomfortably on her skin.

"Follow me," commanded the robot. It turned around and began walking towards a nearby corridor alight with bulbs in the ceiling. It's footsteps echoed off the walls.

The Doctor followed without question and looked around excitedly at their surroundings. Emma tried her best to keep up with him, more worried that the robot would take out its gun again and shoot them dead.

"What is it?" she whispered to the Doctor, afraid of the robot hearing.

"He's called a Bot," the Doctor explained. "Not a very clever name, but they weren't popular. They malfunctioned quite a lot."

Emma shook her head nervously. "How do you know that? How is that thing even here? There aren't any robots that I'm aware of!"

"Oh, that's because it hasn't happened yet." His voice was nonchalant.

"Hasn't happened yet? What, so it's from the future?"

The Doctor nodded. "That's what worries me and that's why I'm letting us get captured. Whoever is in charge knows who I am and don't appear to be very fond of me, so once I'm in the system as detained, they'll come and see me."

"How did that - Bot - know who we were?"

"Like I said - it's from the future. It knows you because you've lived before and you're a part of its hive database that connects the Bots. Considering I'm a time traveler, I'm in most databases across the universe."

Emma's mouth fell agape. "Time traveler? I thought you said you were an alien!"

"I did! I'm just both. What d'you think about that?" That smug grin returned to his face and Emma found she couldn't stay cross for long.

They continued down the corridor of whitewashed walls; metal doors spaced equally on either side. They each had names on them; most likely people of importance to Two Branches. At the far end was one last door and judging by where the Bot was heading, that particular door was their destination.

Emma's prediction was proven right as they stopped in front of it, the Doctor moving around impatiently as the Bot entered a code on a small panel next to the handle. She looked at the name engraved on a piece of metal attached to the door. It read "Andrew Wilson" and nothing else. No sign of importance to be seen. No "I'm the leader of this strange factory and I'm probably evil and possibly an alien" sign hanging anywhere.

The door opened and the Bot pushed it, revealing the small office room inside. The walls were a dark brown and completely bare. The floor, made of cement, was hard and cold; even through Emma's boots. The only objects in the room were the metal desk with a lamp on top and the chair that sat behind it. In said chair was a man. His shaved head shined in the light from the lamp and his bushy mustache nearly curled at the ends. He wore a clean, blue suit with a black tie and a some leather was wrapped around his right wrist. He didn't look up from his papers when they all walked in.

"Bot-Beta, who are these people?" he asked gruffly.

Before the Bot could answer, the Doctor beamed. "Hello!" he greeted. "I'm the Doctor. Apparently you've heard of me?"

The bald man looked up and his eyes widened, his lips pursing. "Get out! Get them out, Bot-Beta!"

"Well, to be perfectly honest Andrew, I don't think you'll want to."

The Bot had begun to grab for Emma and the Doctor, but Andrew held up a hand that stopped it.

"And why is that, Doctor?" he asked.

The Doctor strode forward and moved his hands apart with ease; the handcuffs completely separated. Andrew's mouth had fallen open and Emma found herself slightly giddy from seeing such a triumph. From the Doctor's hands sprouted his screwdriver. He twirled it before using it to yank the rest of the cuffs off his wrists. He rubbed the skin for a split second before taking off Emma's cuffs. She watched Andrew carefully, now wary of the man's intentions.

"Now, Andrew-" the Doctor let the cuffs fall to the floor and turned back to the other man. "I think we need to have a chat, don't you?"

"I'm not telling you anything, Doctor. I know who you are."

"Yes, but that's the problem." The Doctor casually slipped his hands in his pockets. "I don't know who you are. And I'd very much like to know."

Emma felt as though she had faded into the background a bit as Andrew's complete attention was focused on the Doctor. She eyed the Bot standing almost lifelessly to the side and slowly began to inch away from it.

"You see, these books are very clever," the Doctor continued. One had been sitting on the desks he picked it up, aimlessly leafing through the pages. "Tell me, Andrew, what do you see on the cover?"

From where Emma stood, it appeared to be a book on Napoleon Bonaparte. Yet another book on a French related topic.

"I - I don't see anything," Andrew answered.

The Doctor turned to Emma. "What d'you see?"

"Napoleon Bonaparte," she replied.

"Thank you, Emma." He put the book down, open at its middle. "Napoleon Bonaparte. She sees the books as French related. Do you know I see? Nothing, just like you. Because I know what these pages are made of. They're psychic paper, aren't they? Very powerful psychic paper. Unless you know what it is, you'll see whatever you want to see. And Emma - she wanted to see France." The Doctor leaned forward and smiled. "She had no idea what she was reading was facts she already knew."

Emma suddenly felt a tad bit humiliated. How could the books she had been reading not have been books at all. Now that she looked at the book sitting on Andrew's desk, she saw the pages were completely blank. She saw absolutely nothing.

"Next question!" the Doctor continued, beginning to pace the length of the room while Andrew watches him, fiddling with his fingers nervously. "Where are you getting the paper from? Certainly there's plenty of trees to destroy to make your precious fake books, but those trees out there in your factory aren't normal, are they? Or perhaps you're doing something to them when you magically them into psychic paper. By the way, how do you do that? Actually, don't answer that. Which leads me to my next question; why New Leaf Books? Out of all the bookshops in England and you choose a small one in Greenford. There's got to be reason, obviously. Possibly because you know Emma?"

"I don't know him," Emma spoke up. "I've never seen him before in my life."

"I have," said Andrew, finally tearing his gaze away from the Doctor. "I met you and you saved my life even when I did wrong! I just want to repay you by granting your wishes."

Emma furrowed her brow. "What wishes? And since when did I save your life?"

"He made the books out of wishing trees," the Doctor explained. "When you made a wish near them, that wish came true."

Emma suddenly recalled talking to Abigail on the phone. "I wish something amazing would happen to me." Next to her had been that book on the French Revolution. Now that she knew the truth, that book really hadn't been a book at all. Instead, it was just a genie between two covers. She vaguely remembered how only seconds later the Doctor had walked into the shop and she looked over to where he was still pacing and talking. Had the paper made from a wishing tree granted her wish? Was the Doctor the most amazing thing that could happen to her?

"Time travel!" he suddenly shouted, bringing Emma out of her thoughts and making her jump. "That device on his wrist; it's a vortex manipulator. He's been using to travel between this time and his, which just so happens to be really bad for his health. He brought the Bots with him - oh how clever! Everyone just thought they were discontinued but they just went missing, didn't they? And you've used them to build this factory and make the psychic paper from the wishing trees! Brilliant plan, that is, but there's just one flaw." He paused, perhaps for effect. "It's the wrong time. Emma doesn't know you yet. And d'you know what else? She's sold some of the books that you delivered to her. Because of you there are books out there that will grant people their wishes. You could have changed history because of that."

"I needed to apologize," Andrew insisted, turning to Emma again. "What I did I did with the best intentions. And you saved me!"

Emma shook her head. "I don't know you. I never saved your life."

"Then the Doctor must be right," Andrew realized. "You haven't done it yet." He then looked towards the Doctor, frightened. "And that explains why you hated me so much."

The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "What d'you mean?"

Andrew shook his head nervously. "Never mind, you! I fully understand what I've done and now I believe it's time for me to go." He then got up and ran for the Bot instead of the door. The robot didn't protest as Andrew grabbed hold of the gun and slipped out of the holster. He then pointed it towards the Doctor, whose face was displeased.

"Andrew," he said sternly, "put it down."

"I just want to make it up to you." Emma realized he was talking to her. It was beginning to frustrate her.

"Andrew," the Doctor repeated. "If you kill Emma, then you will be rewriting time. She will never meet you again and save your life. You will _die_."

"I won't kill her." He kept his gun fixed on the Doctor. "But you - you're the one who did this time me."

The Doctor shook his head. "Andrew I've never met you." He then looked over at Emma curiously. "Well, that's interesting."

She eyed him questioningly before he turned his attention back to Andrew.

"Andrew, listen to me. You're better than this. If Emma saved your life it was because she thought you deserved it. She gave you another chance. Now put the gun down and we can talk."

Andrew shook his head and reached back towards his desk, his other hand still pointing the gun at the Doctor. He then pushed some papers aside to reveal a big red button sitting under a glass case. He lifted up the glass and hovered his hand over the button.

"Couldn't you have gotten something less cliché?" Emma asked indignantly.

"Andrew, what does that button do?" the Doctor inquired. He was surprisingly calm.

"It activates a new feature I added to the Bots," Andrew replied. "But you won't find out what it is until I press it."

The Doctor eyed the Bot next to Emma warily. He didn't take his eyes off of it while he continued. "Why, Andrew? Why grant her wishes?"

"Because she said she wanted all her wishes to come true," said Andrew. He then added, "They're coming for you, Doctor."

"Who?"

"Those...things." Andrew shuddered. "They were terrifying. All of them. They said they wanted the child of Gallifrey. I did some research after you left me and now I know they're looking for you."

The Doctor seemed to be losing his patience. "Who's looking for me?"

"You'll see one day, Doctor. And that's the day everything changes."

Before anyone could stop him, Andrew slammed his hand down on the button. Emma jumped to the side when the Bot beside her sprung to life once more. It's blue eyes were now an intense red and its hands were spinning until it stopped and its palms raised up. Inside was some sort of weapon which was charging up. Emma had no chance to react before the Bot shot a ray of light at her, but the Doctor was fortunately quicker. He had moved forward and shoved her onto the ground with him on top of her and narrowly missed the shot. During the whole ordeal, Andrew had taken off down the hall, leaving the duo to take care of the Bot.

The Doctor immediately stood up while Emma remained in shock on the floor. He moved behind the Bot quickly and raised his screwdriver to the back of its head. He used it and disabled the Bot, making its red eyes die out. It's torso moved forward and its head hung lifelessly. Emma let out a deep breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, and squealed when the Doctor pulled her to her feet before she had a chance to properly calm down.

"What do we do now?" she asked him.

The Doctor was looking around the office frantically. He then tried using the screwdriver on the big red button and frowned.

"I don't like big red buttons anymore," he muttered before grabbing Emma's hand and bringing her along.

The two ran out of the office and down the hall, back to the factory. Emma now saw that all the workers were Bots as well, every single one of them searching with their gleaming red eyes. The Doctor pulled Emma into hiding behind a crate and they watched closely as the Bots let the machines keep running, but walked away from their spots.

"They're looking for us," Emma mumbled fearfully. "Right, Doctor?"

The Doctor nodded hastily. "There should be a computer somewhere that once shut down will deactivate all the Bots."

"What about Andrew? Should we find him?"

"Right now we need to focus on stopping the Bots. If any of them leave this factory they'll kill anyone who gets in their way of finding us."

Emma swallowed and felt as though something was stuck in her throat, perhaps her rapidly beating heart. She took a deep breath as the Doctor grabbed her hand and they ran. It seemed he quite liked running. She wasn't sure if she did, though. They ran through different corridors and he held his screwdriver up, the device whizzing and buzzing and the tip glowing blue. He stopped them suddenly as they ran past a door. They backtracked and stood in front of it as the Doctor used the screwdriver to open the door. Emma was breathing heavily and she bent over, putting her hands on her knees. The Doctor didn't notice and instead walked inside the room. It was once she caught her breath that she followed him inside.

The room was some type of security room. Monitors made up almost an entire wall, each one showing a black and white picture of a different area. Emma recognized one of them as Andrew's office. Many of them were pointing to the factory and she warily noticed that there were no Bots working on the machinery. In fact-

"Everything's been shut down," the Doctor thought out loud, checking his screwdriver. "The whole factory is shut down."

"What does that mean?" Emma asked, frowning.

The Doctor grimaced. "The Bots have been programmed to obey Andrew's every command. And he's sent them all after us." He quickly jumped around the different controls beneath the monitors. He pushed buttons and pulled switches. Emma wondered if he even knew what he was doing.

"So what now?" she prompted.

"We need to shut them down," he told her. "Except I can't find a way to override the - oh!" He ran his hands through his hair, making it all stick up. He then repeatedly hit his head. "I'm so thick! I'm old and thick and stupid!"

Suddenly, Emma felt cool metal arms wrap around her body and she tried to scream. The sound was stifled as a metal hand slid over her mouth. Despite her shouting loud enough to hurt her throat, there was complete silence except for the Doctor going through his thoughts out loud. She was dragged out of the room, her heels making no noise as she was hauled away. The moment she was out of the room, something sharp poked her in the neck and everything went black.

* * *

When Emma began to come to, she had no idea what was going on. She laying down on her back and there was some beeping noises coming from nearby. Other than that, she could have sworn she heard the sound of the Doctor's screwdriver. There was a bit of a scuffle and she realized that she also heard the monotone voices of the Bots.

"The Doctor is coming," said one. "Prepare the weapon."

Emma tried opening her eyes, but found there was a painfully bright light above her. She decided it was best if she kept her eyes closed. She then tried to move her arms and legs, but found they were being held down. She began to panic and pulled against the restraints, but found she was incredibly weakened. Feeling useless and defeated, she stopped fighting and let herself lay there. She thought of the Doctor and wondered if he was going to come and look for her. She desperately hoped he would.

Her brain suddenly processed what she heard.

A weapon? What kind of weapon? She wished she could open her eyes to at least see what was going on. She opened her mouth to try to scream, only to realize that there was something over it. There was no way to warn him and no way to get out.

There was a bang.

"He's here," called another Bot (or the same one, they all sounded alike). "Ready it!"

Emma heard a bit of commotion before there was a large explosion. She felt the wind of it and was thankful whatever she was laying on hadn't blown over. She would've been totally screwed.

"Prepare yourself, Doctor," said a Bot.

"Oh, I am prepared," said the Doctor's voice. Even from where Emma laid, she could tell he was angry. Very angry.

"With just a screwdriver?" said a Bot. It made a noise that might have been a laugh but instead sounded like a bunch of bolts being shaken in a closed container. "I expected more."

"You've taken someone I like. You've tried to experiment on her. That is not a good place to stand."

Experiment? That didn't make matters better.

"You see this? This button will send an electrical charge throughout this entire room. Everyone that's a Bot will be permanently deactivated."

"I am not afraid of you, Doctor."

His voice was in a quiet fury. "You should be."

There was a pause of silence before a zapping, electrical noise filled the room. It sounded as though someone was getting electrocuted. It went on for a few seconds before quiet again. There were thuds as presumably all the Bots fell lifelessly to the floor. After the last drop, she finally heard soft, hurried footsteps approach her. She heard the noise of the screwdriver and suddenly her hands and legs her free. She groaned as she tried to open her eyes again, but found it was still too bright. With the Doctor's help, she managed to sit up on the table she laid. She felt him kept a hand on her back to keep her up and his other hand went on the side of her face, turning her head most likely towards him.

"Are you alright?" he asked. His tone was heavy with concern.

"I can't open my eyes," Emma answered swiftly. "It's too bright."

"I kind of figured that. This might hurt a bit."

There was a gross ripping noise, kind of like when skin is taken off an alien in the movies. Along with I came pain from around her eyes and she the insides of her cheeks and curled her hands into tight fists, her nails digging into her palms.

"There we go," said the Doctor as something dropped to the floor. "Try opening your eyes now."

Emma did just that and found there was no longer brightness. Instead she found the Doctor's beaming face as he lightly touched the skin around her eyes.

"I can see," she stated, though it was blatant.

"It seems they were trying to make you into some sort of human-Bot cross species. That thing on your eyes-" he looked down at the ground where a piece of goo laid "- was supposed to keep you unconscious." His brow furrowed and he tugged on his ear. "Not sure why it failed, though."

"Does that matter?" Emma asked, feeling utterly relieved. "Thank you for coming for me."

"I'm sorry you got taken. I would never leave you behind." The Doctor smiled again. "Plus, I found out how to send that electrical charge to all the Bots in the factory!"

He helped her to her feet and, although she was a bit wobbly at first, she regained her footage and managed to keep up with him as he led her out of the room. She had just enough time to look around and see that it was some type of laboratory made of steel with several operation tables. It sent a shiver down her spine.

The Doctor took them back to the security room and he ran up to a panel beneath the monitors. Surrounded by buttons and switches, there was a small hole like a jack used for earbuds. He took a small blue cylinder out of jacket pocket (possibly the same device he used to disable the Bots in the lab) and placed it inside the hole. It sparked with electricity for a moment before going still. The Doctor let go of his firm grasp around it and looked up at the monitors. Emma now noticed that many of the robots had gathered together near the lab as if someone had sent out some sort of request for backup. They were all shaking as they were electrocuted like the ones inside the lab before falling to the ground.

"It worked," Emma commented. "I can't believe that worked."

The Doctor was smiling gleefully. "Brilliant! I found that just sitting around Andrew's office as if he meant for us to find it."

Emma turned to the Doctor who met her gaze. They both frowned at the possibly, then shrugged. It was probably just a coincidence.

"So what now?" she asked him. In truth, she was dreading his answer. For some reason, she didn't want this to end. Despite almost being turned into some kind if cyborg and almost being killed by mindless robots, the whole experience had been thrilling. Not once did she ever think such an adventure could happen to her.

"There's a room I want to see before we leave," the Doctor said nonchalantly. "You don't mind, do you?"

Emma found herself smiling greatly. "Not at all!"

He then took her hand and they were off again. It seemed all this guy did was run.

They eventually came upon a door in yet another whitewashed hall. On said door was a plate that read "Tree." Emma immediately pictured a large elm tree growing in some sort of man made environment.

The Doctor lifted his screwdriver and pointed it at the panel next to the door. He managed to unlock the it and he pushed it open. He went in first, Emma closely following. The inside felt small like a closet and the light from a single bulb dangling from the ceiling was flicked on. In front of them sat a...person was it? It looked like a person, but at the same time it was tree like. Its arms were hanging loosely from restraints around its wrists. Its head hung low, the top looking like tree bark with small leaves stuck here and there.

"Oh," said the Doctor softly and sadly. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

The tree person didn't look up. Perhaps it was unconscious.

"What is it?" Emma asked quietly.

"A tree from the Forest of Cheem,"

he answered with a frown. "They haven't been using just any wishing tree."

The tree person was breathing raggedly. Emma felt a pang of sympathy. It was still alive and it was suffering.

"Can't you do anything?" she asked softly.

"He's close to death anyway," said the Doctor. "All we can so is wait."

Emma walked forward and the Doctor didn't stop her. She bent down in front of the tree person. His eyes were closed and his face contorted in exhaustion and pain.

"It's okay," Emma soothed, putting a hand gently on the side of his face. She wasn't sure if what she was doing was appropriate, but no one was protesting. "My name's Emma. It's all gonna be okay."

The tree person opened his eyes slightly. He looked straight into Emma's. He didn't answer and he didn't move. Instead they just locked eyes and Emma just knew. She knew he was okay now. It was only a few seconds later that his eyes slipped shut and the breathing stopped. He hung lifelessly from the restraints, no longer in pain and misery.

Emma felt such sorrow that she didn't understand. This tree person hadn't done anything wrong as far as she knew and hadn't deserved a fate like this. She stood there with the tree person until the Doctor gently took her hand and pulled her out of the small room. He then pulled her into a right hug, his arms firmly fixed in place around her. It felt nice and Emma returned it with ease.

"Are you alright?" he asked quietly.

Emma nodded, but remembered that he probably didn't see it. "Yeah, I'm fine."

The Doctor then pulled away and looked down into her eyes, his on brown ones wide and shining. His lips then curled into a small smile as he grasped her hand again.

He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by a computerized voice that sounded throughout the factory.

"Self-destruct in three minutes."

The Doctor's face suddenly turned frightful and he didn't bother to say anything. Instead he grabbed Emma's hand and together they took off.

It was strange as they ran through the factory as the voice began to count down. It almost seemed unreal; like once the voice hit zero nothing would happen. But remembering how the Doctor's face had become afraid, she soon realized that they were indeed stuck in a horrible situation. If they didn't make it out of the factory, they were going to die.

"Self-destruct in one minute."

They were back in the main part of the factory again after speeding through several corridors and running down flights of stairs. Emma could see the door they had first entered through now. It seemed the Doctor was leading her towards there.

"Self-destruct in thirty seconds."

They ran up the door and it was thankfully still unlocked and partially open. The Doctor practically slammed it off its hinges as he and Emma flung themselves over the threshold. Back in the abandoned warehouse, they ran to the TARDIS.

"Ten...nine...eight...seven...six...five...four... "

The Doctor pushed the TARDIS door open and Emma followed inside. He sprinted to the console and frantically pushed button and pulled levers and even kicked something with his foot. Emma heard the TARDIS leaving the warehouse just as the voice finished the countdown. There was a moment of silence between Emma and the Doctor as they stood completely still, waiting for a possible explosion. When it didn't happen, the Doctor exclaimed "Ha!" and smiled brightly, turning away from the console and towards Emma. His face was alight with excitement and he strolled over to her, hands buried in his pockets.

"Come on then, Emma!"

He held out his hand and after a short pause, she took it. He led her to the door and they exited the ship. She found they were now on a hill overlooking the factory from a bit of a distance. Snow was falling into their hair and into their clothes, forming piles at their feet.

Abruptly, the factory exploded.

It wasn't a large explosion, though Emma's perspective could have been off from them being a good distance away. It wasn't loud either, just a simple explosion as if something had gone wrong and now the place was dust. She watched as fire blazed and smoke rose in spirals. The Doctor stood solemnly by her side.

She turned to him. "You're not a real doctor, are you?" It wasn't a question.

The Doctor turned to her and smiled lopsidedly. "Not in the slightest."

Emma tried to resist, but found herself grinning back just as intensely. However, she suddenly frowned as she looked into the sky. It was dark. Nighttime dark. She could see stars and the moon and oh God it was nighttime.

"Mum's gonna kill me!" she exclaimed suddenly. "I never came home from work!"

The Doctor's smile grew if that was even possible. "Come with me. I think I can fix that." He stretched out his arm towards her and wiggled his fingers. Emma looked from his hand to the smile on his face and grinned happily back. She took his hand and he led her back to the TARDIS.

Once inside, she once again had to get used to it being bigger on the inside. The Doctor ran across the grated floor and began working magic on the console. He even hit something with a mallet. The TARDIS then landed and he walked away from the console, taking Emma's hand and taking her outside.

They stood exactly where they had left; across the street from New Leaf Books.

And it was daytime.

"No way." Emma looked up at the Doctor, squinting in the sunlight. "It's a time machine too?"

The Doctor merely grinning like a five year old in a candy store. "TARDIS - Time And Relative Dimension In Space. I told you I was a time traveller."

Emma looked back at the shop and shook her head, though the corners of her mouth twitched. "I know, its just...that's so not fair." She suddenly realized that the Doctor still had a firm grip on her hand. Heat rushed to her face and she let go reluctantly. She then walked forward a few steps and turned around to see him leaning against the TARDIS.

"So what now, then?" she asked him.

The Doctor shrugged. "I should probably check to make sure all the Bots were destroyed. Wouldn't want them wandering around years before they were invented."

Ema stared longingly at the police box. "And after that? What are you going to do after that?"

"Travel, like always," he said nonchalantly, though there was a hint of sadness in his tone.

"Oh." Emma really didn't know what else to say. "Thank you. For - you know - everything."

He grinned. "Thank you, Emma Scott."

Without saying goodbye, he gave one last smile and backed up through the door, shutting it behind him. Emma fiddled with her sleeves as she waited for it to leave, but eventually decided to slowly go back to the shop. Once she had reached the door, she heard that wheezing noise again and turned around to find that the TARDIS was gone.

* * *

The sky was getting dark again as Emma closed the shop just like any other day. She frequently thought about what she and the Doctor had done only hours earlier. Her attention span was short and several customers became rather irritated when they realized she wasn't focusing on what they were saying. Instead she thought of the Doctor and his box; of how exhilarating it was to run with him. It had been scary, sure, but it had also been amazing.

And she wanted more.

Snow was falling gracefully slow as Emma locked up the shop, her messenger bag securely placed around her body. She crossed arms over her chest and shivered slightly in the freezing temperature. Her boots made the snow crunch with each step as she turned around and began to head home.

Except something on the other side of the street stopped her.

In the light of the setting sun was the TARDIS, the Doctor (now wearing his tan coat again over his suit) stood leaning against the box, his hands in his pockets. His face was cheery and a childish smile was playing on his lips.

Excited with all sorts of possibilities running through her head, Emma strode over to him. She beamed as she approached.

"Thought I'd stop by to say goodbye," the Doctor said.

Emma felt her heart sink, but nodded anyway. She stuck her hands in her coat pockets and smiled. "So, I guess this means you go off adventuring then, yeah? Do you travel alone?"

The Doctor's face turned sad, though he tried to keep a small grin on his face. "I lose people," he said wistfully. "It's best if I travel alone."

She felt saddened (a part of her wished the Doctor would whisk her away), but nodded. She wasn't going to push him.

"I'm sorry," he added.

"It's fine." She shook some snow out of her hair. "Just...be careful, you. Don't want to hear about some mysterious man dying whilst on an adventure."

The Doctor's smile grew and the sadness disappeared. "I'll do my best." With that he moved forward and wrapped Emma in a hug. She was slightly taken aback, but quickly reciprocated. It felt nice, his hug. It was comforting and lovely and, God, did he smell nice.

After he let go, he gave her a wistuful expression and then walked back to the TARDIS. He pushed the door open and put one foot inside, before turning around to look at her one last time. That small grin was still on his face as she gazed upon him happily.

"Bye, Doctor," she told him before he finally went inside and closed the door behind him.

It was when the TARDIS began making that noise again that she realized he was truly leaving. She wanted to run after the box and pound on the door, demanding he take her with him. But she refused to make him uncomfortable. Perhaps she'd never see him again, but at least she would always have the memories of the box and the tree.

She watched in amazement as the spaceship dematerialized right in front of her. It was almost like one last parting gift. He would disappear in that mysterious blue box that had consumed her thoughts and she would always remember watching a police box vanish before her. It was once the box was completely gone that she eventually pivoted on her heel and slowly began to head down the road.

At first she thought it was her imagination that made her hear the TARDIS again, but when she turned around to be sure, she saw the box materialized once more. Her heart leapt into her throat, praying desperately that the Doctor was coming back for her.

When the TARDIS had completely materialized, the door opened and the Doctor stepped half out, looking at her.

"I suppose one trip couldn't hurt," he said nonchalantly. "I mean, it depends if you want to or not."

Emma felt herself beam. "I want to more than I've ever wanted anything in my entire life."

The Doctor was ecstatic as he opened up the door wider. "Come on, then! Allons-y, Emma!"

* * *

**Next Time:**

**Cellular Disruption**

**While in 24th century Cardiff, the Doctor and Emma notice that something is wrong; no one wants to put away their mobiles. And perhaps that strange ship in the sky has something to do with it. **

* * *

_Hello there! So I see you made it through the first adventure. Glad to see you're interested. Hopefully I can keep your interest as long as possible. _

_Also, TWELVE TWELVE TWELVE TWELVE TWELVE TWELVE_


	3. The Ship in the Sky

**Chapter Three**

**Cellular Disruption**

**The Ship in the Sky**

"Sir, this has gone too far."

Standing inside a laboratory in MayCorp, run by the Mayson family, Oliver Brooke stood in his white lab coat and holding his clipboard behind the other man.

"I will tell you when this has gone too far," answered Mr. Mayson. He stood wearing a well tailored black suit, his hands clasped formally behind his back. He stared at the various monitors before him.

"But sir-"

"Mr. Brooke, who is it that founded this company?"

Oliver cleared his throat, his palms beginning to sweat nervously. "Uh - um, it was your father. Isaac Mayson."

"Correct. And who runs this company?"

"You, Francis Mayson."

"Correct again." Mayson began tapping a rhythm on his hands. "Now tell me, what is your position here?"

"I - I am a scientist, sir. A researcher."

"Good." Mayson stilled his movements. "Did you fetch Doctor Woods for me?"

Oliver's neck felt wet with perspiration and he pulled on his dress shirt collar. "Yes, sir. He's just outside the door."

"Excellent. Bring him in."

Grudgingly, Oliver returned to the metal laboratory door and opened it. On the other side was a bound Doctor Woods who had tears streaming down his cheeks. His brown hair was messy from their earlier scuffle and his glasses were askew.

"Please, Oliver," he begged. "I don't want to die."

Putting on a stoic expression, Oliver grabbed Woods by his elbow and half dragged him into the lab. Once Mayson saw Woods, he smiled almost maliciously and walked over to a glass cabinet, his dress shoes clicking softly on the floor.

"Someone wishes to speak with you, Doctor Woods," he said, opening the doors as they creaked on the hinges.

"No, please!" shouted Woods. "I have a family!"

"You know, everyone says that." Mayson grabbed Woods by the lapels of his lab coat and pushed him towards the being in the cabinet.

And his screams filled the room.

* * *

The TARDIS landed and Emma turned from her position next to the Doctor (now wearing a sharp blue suit) to gaze at the door. She then returned to the Time Lord and her smile came back, full of elation.

"What's out there?" she asked, just barely able to contain her excitement.

The Doctor grinned back, sticking his hands into his pockets under his overcoat. "Go and take a look."

"It won't kill me?"

"Well, even if it could the TARDIS would protect you."

Emma raised her eyebrows questioningly, but didn't say anything else. Instead, she quickly strode over to the door and pulled it open. Fresh air hit her like a freight train as she stepped outside the spaceship and onto the pavement, the Doctor right behind her. They had landed in an alley, so after running to the end of it, she found herself on the sidewalk of a street.

"Oh my God," she breathed.

They were in some sort of futuristic city with buildings made of glass and metal. Above them passed flying cars as if the air was the road. Outside of the alley was some sort of shopping area where people were going in and out different stores, carrying bags on their arms. Mothers held their children's hands, friends were gossiping and giggling, and couples were going on dates. There were even a few people that didn't look human at all. Some had red skin or scales on their face. The air even smelled different - it was fresher.

Emma stood in complete bewilderment, her lips parted and her eyes wide. She barely noticed when the Doctor strolled up beside her, his hands still in his suit pockets. When she looked up at him, she saw he was looking at her with a smug expression.

"This is incredible," she told him earnestly. She slowly moved her arms out in front of her. "Can we touch stuff? It won't mess things up, will it?"

"Nope," he answered, popping the "p." "You can touch anything you'd like."

Emma couldn't stop the laugh that came out of her. This was all so surreal and bizarre and so wonderfully fantastic.

"So where exactly are we?" she asked.

"24th century Cardiff," answered the Doctor. "The year 2329 to be exact. Earth and the Jupiter Axis just signed a peace agreement. About time, too. I remember it happening."

Emma creased her forehead. "Why Cardiff? Why now?"

He tugged on his ear. "Well, London is flooded at this point in time. Can't go there at all."

"Wait a minute, it's flooded?" She was incredulous. "That means my house is gone!" Her excitement vanished. "And my family - they're dead! They've been dead for years."

"And there's the pessimism," muttered the Doctor. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I brought you here for a special treat!"

Emma still felt a lingering sadness as she thought of her mother and father and brothers, but returned her attention to the Doctor. They were in the 24th century for God's sakes; she needed to be thrilled, not depressed!

"And what treat is that?" she asked him with a growing smile.

He didn't answer and instead put out his hand. Without hesitation, she grabbed it.

* * *

"Chips? You brought me to 24th century Cardiff for chips?"

Although the treat had been much different than she had anticipated, she couldn't help but feel a bit of humor at the sight of the Doctor looking completely innocent and holding a basket of chips in his hands.

He gave her an expression of feigned hurt. "But they're delicious! Best chips in all of time and space. Just try some."

Emma looked around where they stood. The Doctor had taken her off to some futuristic food court where dozens of small carts where selling all sorts of food. There was ice cream and sandwiches and fish and oh did they all smell so good. A large sitting area was in the center, surrounded by the carts like a fence. Various people were sitting at the metal tables, shielded from the sun by spinning, colorful umbrellas. Instead of going to any other cart and even looking at what they had to offer, the Doctor went straight for one right across from the entrance and ordered a large basket full of chips.

Emma looked at him cautiously, then warily eyed the food. She saw the Doctor raising his eyebrows in anticipation. Truth be told, she was just afraid to try anything from the future.

At long as, Emma grabbed one and slowly took a bite. She chewed. She swallowed. She then ate the rest of it wit no more hesitation.

"These are delicious!" she exclaimed, taking another and stuffing it in her mouth.

The Doctor was smiling excitedly and stuck one in his own mouth. "I told you! Best chips ever made!"

The two sat down at a table and continued eating. The seat Emma chose was rather hot from its exposure to the sun.

"So where are you from then?" she asked the Doctor, leaning one arm on the table. "What planet?"

He wouldn't meet her eyes. "A place called Gallifrey."

"Do you ever go back and visit your family?"

He still looked anywhere but her. "No, I can't."

"Oh." She shrugged. "If I traveled, I wouldn't go home much."

"Why's that?"

"My dad isn't around much and my mum's a bit bossy, really. My brothers went to university a few years ago and my cousin's getting married. The only person I would really want to visit is my mum's cousin. She's a bit like you, actually; she likes adventure. But anyway, why come to Earth? I mean, all of time and space and you come to Earth in 2009. Why?"

He shrugged. "I was just popping in. I eventually found out that some people's wishes were coming true and the only thing they had common was that they all bought books from your shop. That's why I came by."

"It's kinda funny though." She swallowed the chip she was chewing. "I made a wish."

His eyebrows raised. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah. I wished for something amazing to happen to me." She paused and looked down at the table. "And then you walked in."

They finally met each others gazes and the Doctor appeared to be thinking. His eyebrows scrunched together and his eyes were squinting. He then shook his head.

"That couldn't have been about me," he told her. "It was probably a coincidence."

Emma shook her head. "But it has to be! I mean I make that wish and then you stroll in and we find the Bots and everything. And how did Andrew know us? Were we traveling or-"

It was at this point she realized that the Doctor was no longer listening to her. He was looking around them, actually, like he was searching for something.

"Have you noticed something weird about all the people?" he asked her in a low voice.

Emma looked up from the chips and glanced at the other people. Honestly, she didn't notice anything weird about them at all.

"They're all just eating food, like us," she answered slowly.

The Doctor shook his head. "No, really _look_. What do they all have in common other than eating?"

Emma looked around again and scrutinized every detail. It took her a few seconds to figure out what the Doctor was talking about.

"The phones," she spoke, brow furrowing. She looked from one person to the next and saw each one was using their mobiles in one form or another. She was almost distracted at how high-tech they were. "Is there something wrong with the phones? I mean, maybe the human race goes through a stage where each person's mobile is the most important things in existence. It sort of seems to be heading that way."

The Doctor stood and approached someone sitting nearby. "Excuse me," he said very politely, "but can I use your phone?"

The person - a young man probably in his early twenties with shaggy brown hair and wearing a t-shirt and jeans - quickly looked up at the Doctor in alarm.

"No," he answered without hesitation

The Doctor approached a woman this time who was half paying attention to feeding the baby strapped into a stroller beside her. The rest of her attention was put on the mobile in her hand.

"Excuse me," he said, "can I use your mobile phone?"

The woman looked horrified. "No!" she quickly exclaimed and then put her back in between her and the Doctor. He wasn't even the least bit offended.

Instead, the Doctor stood up to his full height and placed his hands on his hips. His face was scrunched up in confusion - Emma thought he looked a bit like a bunny, if she was perfectly honest. He looked out over the food court, as did she. Every single person was barely paying attention to what they were doing. Some were spilling their drinks on themselves and other were missing their mouths with their food. It was actually a bit pathetic.

"What's wrong with them?" Emma asked.

The Doctor shook his head. "I don't know."

As if on cue, everyone stopped what they were doing. They just froze, kind of like that one X-Men movie where Xavier freezes everyone in the oval office. People were stopped in mid-chew and mid-drink. But everything else kept moving. Those that were drinking spilled the entire contents of their cup onto their laps. It made Emma cringe. She could still feel the air moving around them in a slight breeze, but it was like time for all the people just...stopped.

Emma frowned and moved her own arms around, seeing if she could move. For her, it seemed fine. "What's happening? Why can't they move, but I can?"

The Doctor seemed to be able to move as well and he went up to the person nearest to them. He looked at the ears and took out his screwdriver. He pointed the tip at their heads and it made the whirring noise. Looking at the screwdriver, he frowned as well and looked out over the food court again.

"I've seen something like this before," he said. "Everyone froze because they were downloading information. But these people - they're just stuck. Nothing's happening to them."

Emma walked up towards the guy in the t-shirt and attempted to take the phone out of his hands, only to find it was stuck to his palm. It was like the thing was super glued to his skin.

"I can't get it off," she spoke, attempting to pull it off a few more times. "It's just stuck to his hand!"

The Doctor tugged on an ear. "Well, that's interesting."

Suddenly, a loud buzzing noise sounded overhead and both of them looked up. In the sky was some sort of spaceship. It wasn't like the Doctor's, of course. It was more like a cheesy UFO, really. The silver, flying saucer moved slowly over the food court, covering the entire place in a large, circular shadow. It stopped and then the rim began to glow a soft blue color. Emma looked back down at all the people and watched as the same blue glow emitted from every person except her and the Doctor. The light traveled from everyone's bodies and up to the rim of the ship. This went on for a few seconds before the light stopped and the ship moved on.

"What was that?" Emma exclaimed. "Did that - did that ship just suck out part of these people?"

The Doctor looked mildly impressed. "You know what? I think it did." He held his screwdriver aloft again and pointed it at t-shirt guy. It made its usual noise and the Doctor examined it.

"There we go!" he exclaimed with a gleeful grin. "Oh, that's clever."

Emma crossed her arms over her chest. "Mind telling me what the hell is going on?"

"It seems that ship is directly connected with the mobiles," he told her. "Somehow, through that connection, it gets to the people's life energy."

"So basically it's sucking out their lives?" she surmised reluctantly. "Sort of like their souls?"

"It seems so." The Doctor soniced the mobile in the man's hand. "These aren't real mobiles. They're more like a...well sort of a incubus or a succubus in way. Except without the - y'know - _other_ _stuff_." He cleared his throat."Anyway, they're actual beings that have adapted and taken mobile form. When someone purchases one and puts in it in their hand, it latches onto the skin and forms a bond with the person's mind. In a way, everyone here is infected."

"And that ship," said Emma, "it's sort of like a literal mothership? Like, it controls all the incubus mobiles?"

The Doctor nodded. "I believe so. And if this keeps going on, then eventually everyone with mobiles in the entire world will run out of life energy." He pocketed his screwdriver and looked at Emma. "We've got to get on that ship."

She suppressed a smile. Oh, how she was loving this. "Well, we do have a spaceship that travels through space and time."

The Doctor beamed at her. "Then let's get on with it!"

The two linked hands (Emma didn't need him to take hers this time; she knew the drill) and ran off towards the TARDIS.

* * *

"How do they taste?"

Mayson stood in a room in the depths of the ship, staring at the glass doors.

"Energy..." said a deep and ominous voice.

"Yes, I am providing you with energy." He walked over to one of the control panels and pushed a few buttons. He brought up a screen on a monitor which showed the energy intake level. "I am providing sufficient energy to keep you alive, Conscious. Yet it seems you desire more."

"Energy..."

"I understand that," Mayson snapped. "However, it seems you are not holding up our end of the deal." He turned away from the monitor and back to the glass with a scrutinizing expression. "What are you? Where do you come from?"

"Human...Energy..."

Mayson scoffed. "I am shutting down the ship for today. I think you've had plenty."

"Stop..."

"My word is final, Conscious. I run this company like my father and his father. You have no power here. You are simply an advantage, nothing more. You will do as I say. Understood?"

The Conscious was silent except for its groaning.

"Good." Mayson clasped his hands behind his back. "Until tomorrow."

He then spun on on his heel and walked out the door.

* * *

The TARDIS landed on the ship and Emma followed the Doctor out the door. They found themselves inside a room made entirely of metal. It seemed like some sort of storage room with shelving on the walls and cardboard boxes scattered about. Emma wandered over to one and looked inside, pulling the top open.

"Doctor," she said.

He walked over and looked at what she found.

It was a box full of what appeared to be medical equipment. Except every object was pointed and sharp. There were all sorts of knives and tweezers and scissors and other suspicious utensils. She looked up at the Doctor worriedly and saw his face was

"I'm not sure I want to know what this stuff is for," Emma muttered, closing up the box as the Doctor removed his screwdriver from his coat. He also slid the coat off his shoulders and threw it through the open TARDIS door, which promptly closed after.

She heard him using the screwdriver on the different boxes and waving it around in the air as she she looked at all the contents on the shelves. They were all far to futuristic for her to identify, though some looked like high powered toasters with a rectangular shape and slits at the top. Part of her wanted to reach out and touch it, but she thought better of it. There was no way she was going to screw up any chance of the Doctor taking her with him, even if her curiosity was close to getting the better of her.

"Brilliant!" the Doctor suddenly shouted loudly, causing Emma to jump. She put a hand over her now racing heart and turned to him, seeing him smiling and pointing his screwdriver in the direction of a large metal door that was bolted onto the frame. The screwdriver whirred and the door blew open like when army men used C4 in movies. The Doctor looked towards her. "Onwards!"

Emma linked hands with the Doctor again and they moved over the threshold into a corridor. It ran at a curve, as if the whole corridor was a circle. On one side was metal wall and on the other was stairs that led down to a console. Above the console was a giant, holographic picture of Earth that spun slowly. She could see each continent clearly and noticed the flashing blips that stood out on England and Wales.

"Look at that," she said, raising her index finger towards the globe.

The Doctor followed her motion and looked towards the hologram. He furrowed his brow and let go of her hand, heading down the stairs and towards the console and putting on is glasses. Emma stayed back as she heard him pushing buttons and using his screwdriver. Instead, she looked down each way down the corridor and towards the ceiling. She moved forward slightly to see beyond it and noticed that there was at least a dozen floor above them. But there was no noise coming from any of them.

"Where is everyone?" she asked. "I mean, this is a giant saucer flying over Cardiff. Shouldn't there be...workers? Or something? Anything?"

"Everyone's gone," the Doctor answered, eyeing a monitor on the console. "Come take a look."

Emma moved lightly across the metal floor and down the stairs. She came up next to the Doctor and saw the screen he was looking at. At the top it read, "Full life forms aboard MayCorp - 5."

"But there's still five people here," she observed. "Where are they?"

"This is a massive ship," said the Doctor. "They could be anywhere. But my question is; why does it say full life forms?"

Emma shrugged. "Could this have to do with everyone's life energy being taken? Maybe they store it or something? Sell it on the black market?"

The Doctor scrunched his face up, ignoring her last comment. "There's no sign of life energy anywhere. It's almost like-"

It seemed that something suddenly dawned on him and his face smoothed out, his eyes wide and his mouth in an "o" shape. "Oh."

"What is it?" Emma asked. "You're doing that, 'I know something Emma doesn't' face again."

"They're not storing the energy. They're feeding it to something."

"Something? What something?"

The Doctor stared at the screen in deep thought. "It's possible the ship needs it to keep moving. But why? Why take life energy for a ship?"

"Is that why there's barely anyone left?" Emma wondered aloud. "The ship took their energy to keep it going?"

"Maybe." The Doctor fiddled with some more buttons and suddenly the smiling face of a man possibly in his late 50's popped up on the screen. "Here we go."

"My name is Francis Mayson," said the man. His greying hair was combed to the side and there were bags under his eyes. When he smiled, the corners of his lips didn't quite touch his eyes the way a normal smile would. "I am the owner of MayCorp having taken it from my father who took it from his father. We have been in Cardiff for so many years and have been helping with such a technology dependent age."

The screen changed and instead showed the same type of mobile phone that had been stuck to t-shirt guy's hand.

"Introducing the MayMobile IV. It's faster. It's bigger. It's brighter. And it's overall easier to manage."

It changed from the mobile to video of people using their own, talking and smiling and laughing.

"Now it's easier to call your friends and relatives and stay in touch with your colleagues. And the best part is that it costs less than ever before!"

"MayCorp," Emma sounded as prices flashed on the screen. "That's what this place is, right?"

"It seems so. And that means-" the Doctor tapped the screen as the man's face came up again, "-Mr. Mayson must be one of the three life forms on board this ship."

Emma scoffed. "Who does he think he is? Norman Osborn or something?"

The Doctor took of his glasses and pocketed them before he brought up his screwdriver and pointed it towards the door he had blown open. He then walked back up the stairs and took a right. Before Emma could go after him, he came back and then went the left way instead. She quickly walked up the steps and followed him down what felt like walking through a metal container.

"So five life forms," she spoke, "one is Mr. Mayson. Two are us. Then the other two must be the workers that are still left, right?"

"Hopefully," said the Doctor. They continued going down the curve until they came upon some grated metal stairs. Emma followed him as he ascended.

The stairs went up forever. Emma's legs were starting to burn by the third floor up. If she was planning on convincing the Doctor to take her with him, she was going to have to get in shape.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Where the nearest life form is," the Doctor answered. "I'd like to know why they need to take the life energy if innocent people for their own needs."

They went up several more floors before they finally came upon a grated landing. The Doctor was moving his screwdriver around in the air as Emma looked around. It looked just like the rest of the ship: made of metal and rather chilly. A long bridge went across the atrium where the holographic globe sat at the bottom. Emma began walking across it and gasped as something grabbed her elbow. She whipped around to see the Doctor.

"Rule one - don't wander off," he told her.

She nodded and let her heart calm down as he returned to the landing and towards another metal door. This one he was able to push open rather than explode it and Emma followed him over the threshold.

This room was different. Although still made of metal, there were glass tubes that ran about across the walls and the ceiling which held some kind of bubbling, clear liquid. The ends all attached to one big glass box that was half filled with the liquid. There was a strange thumping noise; almost like the noise of a beating heart.

"What is all this stuff?" Emma wondered aloud, looking above them, her mouth agape.

"It's a life support system," the Doctor answered, lowering his screwdriver. "They're only used for beings from the Bexo Galaxy, but all the planets were destroyed in the Time War - how could anyone have this?"

As the Doctor ran his hands through his hair, Emma brushed a hand along the glass tubes and walked past the box in the center.

"Maybe someone escaped," she spoke. "Just one person."

At this the Doctor turned somber and serious. When she saw his look, she immediately turned away and felt as though her words might have insulted him somehow. Before she had a chance to apologize, another door opened on the opposite side from where they entered. A man stepped through wearing a white lab coat. His thinning ginger hair was dull and behind his large glasses were beady eyes. He held a clipboard in his hand and shifted from foot to foot nervously.

"I - I need you to come with me," he said aversely.

The Doctor looked up from where he stood and strode forward with his long legs. "Hello, I'm the Doctor-"

The man immediately moved back and held out a small, rectangular device. The Doctor froze as it beeped and the man looked down at it.

"Time Lord," said the man quizzically. "What's a Time Lord?"

"That's me, the Doctor." He moved forward slowly now and Emma stuck to his side. "What's your name?"

The man squinted at them through his lenses and then swallowed thickly. "O-Oliver. Doctor Oliver Brooke."

The Doctor smiled brightly and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Nice to meet you, Doctor Oliver Brooke! Like I said, I'm the Doctor. This is my friend Emma."

Emma gave a small smile and wave.

However, Oliver still looked nervous. "I need you to come with me."

"We will in a moment," the Doctor replied passively and leaned forward. "Now tell me, where's the crew of this ship?"

Oliver shook his head. "They're gone."

"But where did they go?" Emma prompted.

"They're just - just gone." He looked between Emma and the Doctor frantically "I need you to come with me."

The Doctor tugged on an ear. "And why is that?"

"Mr. Mayson would like to see you."

"Do we go with him?" Emma muttered just loud enough for the Doctor to hear.

He briefly glanced at her and nodded.

"Alright, then!" he exclaimed loudly with a grin. "Let's go see Mr. Mayson."

Oliver turned and went back through the door, Emma following him first. They entered a completely empty room except or yet another metal door across the place and a small panel attached to the wall next to it. The Doctor stayed by the door they went through and looked around, tugging on his ear again. His forehead creased as he thought.

Emma turned away from him and back to Oliver, still following him as he walked towards the other door.

"So Mr. Mayson's here?" Emma asked him as she vaguely heard the screwdriver whirring.

Oliver nodded. "He has requested that you see him." He walked over to the panel and started inputting some sort of code.

"Why would you have a life support system from the Bexo Galaxy?" came the Doctor's voice from behind her. "The ship doesn't need it."

This seemed to make Oliver nervous; his hands started shaking. "That is not of your concern."

Emma swiveled her head around to see the Doctor raising his left eyebrow and narrowing his eyes.

"That is of my concern," he said dangerously, "because the Bexo Galaxy was destroyed. I saw it happen. If you have one of their life support systems, then that means you have one of the people on board this ship."

"Why would they need life support systems?" Emma questioned, feeling a tad bit lost.

The Doctor kept his eyes fixed on Oliver. "Because they're essentially born dying. They need the systems to live long lives. And the fact that a ship that belongs to a company that produces mobile phones has one is very strange."

Oliver licked his lips and fumbled with his clipboard. "We have our reasons."

"And what are they?"

He ignored the Doctor and turned to Emma. "I need you to come with me."

"She's not going anywhere."

"I'm right here," Emma muttered under her breath.

"She needs to come with me," Oliver insisted.

Emma frowned deeply. "And I told you I'm right here! Don't talk about me like I'm invisible." She turned to look at the Doctor again who was standing in a power stance, his eyes darting between her and Oliver.

"I'm sorry," said Oliver. Emma faintly heard the Doctor yell something as Oliver slammed his hand down on the panel.

Emma whipped around to see the Doctor, only to find him looking panicked as a metal wall came in between them. She heard a thump against it as if he had thrown his body at it.

"Now," said Oliver. "I'd like you to with me, Miss Emma."


	4. The Conscious

**Chapter Four**

**Cellular Disruption**

**The Conscious**

Even as Oliver spoke, Emma stared at the wall and heard the thumping a few more times until it stopped. The noise behind it ceased completely

"He won't be able to enter," said Oliver almost grudgingly. "I need to take you to Mr. Mayson now."

Emma turned back to him and realize she had no other option. And so she reluctantly acquiesced.

* * *

"Emma! Emma!"

The Doctor quit pounding on the wall and quieted down. He felt his hearts racing fast as he realized he didn't have much time. Looking around frantically, he found that the only point of exit was the door they came through. He tried using the screwdriver on the large metal wall, but it refused to budge. That left him no other option but to find the schematics of the ship.

And so off he went - back through the room with the life support system, down the stairs all the way to console with the holographic globe still spinning aimlessly on its axis. Putting on his glasses once more, he began messing around with all the different buttons of all sorts of colors and shapes. On the monitor he saw files and statistics and meeting minutes but for some reason he couldn't find the damn schematics.

"Come on," he muttered to himself. "It's got to be here somewhere."

Suddenly, there was a voice behind. A voice he knew well; one that made his hearts beat faster and break simultaneously.

"Doctor," she said. Her voice was exact.

He swallowed thickly and ignored it, continuing his search. Emma's life was in danger - he had to remember that.

"_Doctor_."

He couldn't stop his reply this time. "You're not real."

"No, I'm not. I'm simply the core of the ship. A personified projection of the central database. I've chosen a form that most suits your needs; the information was provided by the Conscious."

He didn't want to turn around - not to face that pain he would feel at seeing her. But he knew he had to. There was no way he could gather everything he needed while looking the other way. He could make it through this.

He turned around.

He took a deep breath.

He saw Rose.

She looked just like she did when he left her with the meta-crisis. The hair, the clothes - everything the same.

He took another deep breath.

"Who is the Conscious?" he inquired, his voice quiet. "A being from the Bexo Galaxy, yes?"

"The last of his kind," replied Fake Rose. "Just like you."

Her voice was Rose's, but the Doctor soon realized that it didn't have her energy. Instead, it sounded almost dead - like a monotone. It was a projection, of course it would sound this way. Keeping this in mind, he was able to overcome the sadness seeing her caused. He simply chanted in his head "It's not really her" like it was a mantra that his life depended on.

"And the life energy?" he asked, now in control.

"The Conscious needs it for sustaining life without the support system. In approximately three months he will be able to move off the device."

The Doctor felt a wave of anger. "But in three months everyone on the planet will be dead!"

"It is a necessary sacrifice."

"The lives of these people are never a necessary sacrifice!" He ran a hand over his head and shut his eyes tightly. "How did you know I'm the last of my kind?"

"The ship is connected with the Conscious on a psychic level. He can see inside the minds of those around him; see the past, the present, and the future. I see what you did to Gallifrey. Those people were a necessary sacrifice; why do you say different about the humans?"

"Because they are under my protection," he answered instantly. "But...why Rose? Why choose her form?"

"Because you think about her the most. Thoughts of her cause high levels of emotion which the Conscious detected. I read what he saw and acted accordingly." Fake Rose paused. "I can change forms if you'd like. Would this one suit you better?"

Fake Rose then changed into Fake Martha. She looked like she did the day she left after the Year That Never Was.

_It's not her either._

_It's not her either._

_It's not her either._

_It's not her either._

"How did MayCorp come across the Conscious?" he asked, giving no indication of recognition.

"Francis Mayson found him after the destruction of the Bexo Galaxy along with his life support system."

The Doctor nodded and ran his hands through his hair as he started to pace. "So they're not feeding the life energy to the ship," he deduced. "They're feeding it to the Conscious, correct?"

"Correct," answered Fake Martha. "I'm surprised it took this long to figure it out."

"Well, I had a good idea of what was going on."

"Then why did you let your friend get captured?"

The Doctor stopped himself and turned towards Fake Martha warily. "I didn't let her get captured."

"You're lying to yourself, Doctor. You've let her get captured just like you do with everyone that travels with you. They all meet terrible fates. I see what the Conscious sees and I see your grief."

This sat uncomfortably with him. "You're a projection. You don't understand."

"I may not-" Before his eyes Fake Martha changed into Fake Donna, wearing the same outfit and hairstyle as the day he took her memory away. "-but she might. If she could remember you, of course."

_It's not her._

_It's not her._

_It's not her._

_It's not her._

"Everyone that travels with you gets everything they wanted," said Fake Donna. "But in the end it doesn't matter. They lose it all, don't they, Doctor?."

The Doctor felt a surge of anger swell within him; the Oncoming Storm was threatening to come out.

"She's going to end up just like the rest of them," continued the projection. "You can't save everyone and Emma Scott is no exception."

He walked right up in front of the projection and stared it down, the height difference making him more intimidating. "That's where you're wrong. It's going to be different this time. I'm going to take her with me and we'll travel _everywhere_. And this time nothing's going to happen to her. I'm not going to lose another person; not again. I can change this."

Fake Donna smiled without the warmth that Real Donna's would bring. "And that's where _you're_ wrong, Doctor. No one is safe with you. Even the Woman that Saved the Universe."

With that, Fake Donna vanished and the Doctor was left alone. He took in a deep breath before running his hands through his hair again.

"Wait!" he called. "You can help me!"

The projection appeared again, but it wasn't Fake Donna.

It was Fake Emma.

"Is there something else you need?" the projection asked.

The Doctor pushed the image to the back of his mind and began to ramble out his thoughts. "You're the core of the ship which means you have access to security cameras, captain logs, everything. I need you to tell me where the Real Emma is and how to get there, now."

"She is in the Conscious laboratory on Level Five."

The Doctor nodded in gratitude. "And how do I get there?"

* * *

Oliver led Emma into some type of laboratory. There were tools and consoles and monitors and machines that purred and beeped. Inside was another man who was waiting for them. He was facing a glass cabinet with his hands clasped behind his back. He wore a black suit and, from what Emma could see, had grey hair.

"I find it odd that a strange, human girl ended up on my ship," he said passively. Emma recognized his voice instantly.

Francis Mayson.

"Tell me," he continued, "how did you get on board?"

"Stowaway," she lied quickly. "I was - I was investigating for my...newspaper."

Mayson turned around and she saw his wrinkled, age spotted face - he looked exactly like he did in the video for MayCorp. However, there was no hint of emotion to be found in this man. He stood completely stoic in front of the glass cabinet, staring down Emma like it was a competition.

"You're lying." He lifted his chin up into the air. "This ship hasn't touched ground in weeks."

"Don't you need fuel?" She suddenly remembered the life energy and that was the fuel. Or at least she thought so.

At this, Mayson finally cracked a smile, though it was humorless. "We have plenty of fuel. In fact, we have enough to last us months. Years, maybe. But that leads me back to my original question. How did you get on board?"

"There was another," blurted Oliver. "A man in a suit. They were together."

Mayson quirked an eyebrow. "And you chose to bring only one?"

"The scanner said he was a...a Time Lord, sir. I've never heard of a Time Lord, but it ain't human as far as I can tell. Probably from another planet, I reckon."

Emma nervously bit her bottom lip as Mayson contemplated this. He then nodded at Oliver.

"Thank you, Doctor Brooke," he said. "You have done well." He returned his attention to Emma. "Was it the Time Lord that brought you here?"

She remained quiet, silently clenching her jaw.

Mayson smiled wider. "So he did, didn't he? Well, I can assure you that whatever brought you both here will be found and destroyed. Perhaps recycled into new equipment that we need." He took a few slow strides forward, becoming closer to Emma but still blocking the view of the cabinet. "Why are you here?"

Emma licked her lips out of nervous habit and unconsciously picked at her cuticles. However, she stayed silent.

"A pity," Mayson said softly. "I suppose you know about the Conscious then?"

This got her interest. "What's the Conscious?"

Mayson beamed now; his face smug. "There we go! So you don't know what he is. But you must know about the energy then, hmm? Why else would you be here without your phone? Why, you wouldn't even be here at all."

"Time Lord..." muttered Oliver, realization dawning on him. "Perhaps they're time travelers, sir! Maybe they're from the future."

"Or perhaps from the past," replied Mayson. He tilted his head and scrutinized her curiously. "Her clothes are of 21st century style, didn't you notice?"

Oliver's forehead creased and he shifted from foot to foot. "I - I don't really have any fashion knowledge, sir."

"Well, _I_ do. This girl is from the past, Doctor Brooke. Her life energy is completely different in this time." Mayson's smile turned malicious. "This might be exactly what we need."

Emma frowned. "Could you not talk about me while I'm right here?" she asked. "And you didn't tell me what the Conscious was, too."

Part of her was hoping that if she could stall, the Doctor would find a way to her like he did at Two Branches. She just had to give him time.

"The Conscious," Mayson repeated, "is my pride and joy. I found him myself - just after I took over the company. We were going bankrupt, you see. And then this _thing_ comes along. He spoke to me and told me he needed help - so I helped him."

Mayson finally moved aside and the view of the glass cabinet became clear. Emma stifled a gasp as she got a good look at the being inside. It really didn't look like a being, to be quite honest. It was sort of like a giant pile of mashed potatoes sitting on a metal shelf. There were several wires and cords hooked up to it that twisted and knotted with each other. It moved around like choppy waters and groaned like it was in pain.

"You might as well get acquainted," said Mayson, walking around Emma in a circle. "The Conscious sometimes likes to speak with his food before he devours it."

Mayson gently pushed Emma forward and towards the glass cabinet; towards the Conscious. She kept her eyes fixed on it as if it would attack her at any moment. Truth be told, she was pretty sure it couldn't move from its current position, but she was still cautious.

She slowly approached the Conscious while Oliver and Mayson stood in the back, watching her closely. It made her sad to see the creature locked up in such a manner, even if it did look like something made for Christmas dinner.

"Human..." it groaned.

"Yeah," Emma replied, "I'm human." She felt way too weird talking to this thing.

"Help..."

This grabbed her attention instantly. "You want help? What do you want?"

It moved around a bit, like it was having trouble breathing or something. "The energy..."

"I'm sorry, you can't have the energy," Emma said, shaking her head sadly. "Those are people down there - real living people. You can't take their energy away."

"No..."

Her forehead crinkled. "No? You don't want the energy?"

"No..."

At this revelation, she turned around to face the two men. "Did you hear that? He doesn't want the energy!"

"The Conscious is confused," Mayson answered quickly and perhaps a tad bit nervously. "He needs the energy to survive."

Emma ignored him and instead decided to go with her gut feeling. She grabbed the handles of the cabinet and yanked them open despite Mayson's shouts of disapproval from behind her. She then took hold of the wires protruding from the Conscious and extracted them. It made a gross popping noise as they disconnected, dripping with whitish goo. Disgusted, Emma let them drop to the floor of the cabinet and watched as the Conscious moved around some more, filling out the shelf he sat on. He made a noise that sounded like a sigh of relief.

"Put those back in!" shouted Mayson. "Put them in, now!"

Emma looked over her shoulder and saw that despite his anger, Mayson was staying a good distance away. Oliver was clutching his clipboard tightly as he inched backwards slowly. She then turned back to the Conscious.

"Is that better?" she asked gently.

"Thank you," he answered. His voice was now so much stronger than before. "I thank you Emma Scott."

She furrowed her brow. "How do you know my name?" It was then that she realized she was talking to an alien from another galaxy in 24th century Cardiff, yet she was more concerned about how it knew her name.

"I know everyone's names," he answered. "I am the Conscious, as they call me. I can see inside the life of every person around me."

"So...what d'you see about my life?"

The Conscious grunted. "I see secrets. Secrets that don't make much sense. Secrets that cannot be told just yet."

"Then why would you even mention there's secrets in my life?"

"Because you asked me to."

Emma licked her lips and shifted from foot to foot. "So why are they taking the life energy from people using the phones? Do you even know anything about that?"

"Yes, I do." The Conscious sounded miserable. "They are using me."

"Using you how?"

"They have taken parts from me for I can grow them back. They have taken those parts and made them into their phone devices to forcibly connect me to every person on Earth."

"But why?"

Mayson spoke up desperately from behind her. "Because I needed customers!"

Emma turned around again, narrowing her eyes at Mayson dangerously. He suddenly lost the courage he had a second ago.

"You needed customers so you decided to abuse a being that was lost?" she asked him, her voice raising. "Just look at what you've done! You're killing the entire human race just for money! I thought that in the future, money would no longer mean anything, but clearly I was wrong."

"You don't understand-"

"You're right, I don't understand." She took a few strides towards him. "You call him the Conscious because you probably don't have one of your own. You're killing him!"

He shook his head, his hair getting out of place and his eyes turning wild. His courage was returning. "I did what my father would have done, what his father would have done. We would do anything to keep this company alive and thriving."

"It won't thrive once you kill either your source of productivity or all of your customers! Don't you see? You're turning into a monster, Mr. Mayson."

Mayson stood up straight, towering over Emma dauntingly. "Oliver, do as your told."

Oliver suddenly dropped his clipboard and rushed forward past the both of them, scurrying towards the Conscious.

Emma moved forward to stop him. "No, leave him alone!"

But it was too late. Oliver grabbed the wires and shoved them back into the Conscious. Emma watched completely mortified as Oliver started shaking and yelling like he was being electrocuted. After a moment, he dropped to the ground, his skin scorched. She tried to move towards the man, but the whole place began to tremble. She could here the Conscious groaning again, though this time it he was blatantly in the worst pain possible.

"What is he doing?" Emma yelled, her voice frantic.

Mayson didn't answer. He simply looked panicked as he tried to scramble to his feet, but fell. The ship began to jolt even more and it felt as though the room was tilting. Tables on wheels began to roll across the room and crash against the wall on the other side. Consoles sparked and monitors cracked. It felt as though the place was in the middle of a violent earthquake.

Suddenly, the door to Emma's left slid open as she grabbed onto one of the strange machines to keep herself steady. She breathed a sigh of relief as she watched him enter the room.

He turned right to her, his screwdriver raised in his hand, pointing towards the ceiling. "You would _not _believe the day I'm having."

Emma laughed, though she was pretty sure it was from the stressful situation mixed with the comfort of the Doctor's arrival. She stood up and staggered towards him, almost falling over in the process as the ship rocked again. He caught her and the two embraced.

"Nice of you to show up," she said with a wide smile.

"Couldn't leave you behind, now, could I?" he answered with a grin of his own. "Now! What did I miss?"

Emma pointed towards the Conscious and couldn't help but wonder if he had grown in size. "Well, that's the Conscious. Mayson-" she pointed to the old man cowering on the floor "-was using him to keep his company growing and I took the things out of him, but Oliver pushed them back in and it killed him. Oliver, I mean. And now, well, this is happening."

The Doctor fixed his gaze on the Conscious and let go of Emma, moving forward. She managed to keep her balance as the ship continued to tremble.

"You're destroying the ship!" he shouted over the noise of the said ship.

"I...am...revenge..."

"This isn't worth it! Trust me!"

"I know you understand, Doctor," answered the Conscious. The wires binding him snapped and moved around in the air like snakes. "I see your pain. Your people were destroyed...so were mine."

"Your people were destroyed?" Emma repeated as a question.

The Doctor threw a glance at her that told her now was not the time to talk about that.

"You're right," the Doctor replied. "We're the last of our kinds."

"How do you cope?" The Conscious sounded almost...broken.

"It's hard. It's _so_ hard. My family is gone, everything is gone. But do you know what I do? I run. I just keep running because I can't look back."

Emma was forced to grab onto the door frame as the ship began to tilt even more.

"I can't run, Doctor. I have no place to go."

The Doctor shook his head. "You do. I can help you, Conscious. You don't have to do this."

Out of nowhere, the room began to glow blue. Emma looked towards Mayson.

"What's happening?" she asked him.

"He's taking the remaining energy from everyone!" Mayson answered. "We'll be next! I don't want to die, not yet!"

Emma scoffed. "Then you shouldn't have been such an idiot!"

"This is not the answer," the Doctor continued calmly, but sternly. "These people are innocent."

"So were my people."

"It wasn't their fault! It was the Time War. Conscious, I remember the destruction of your Galaxy. The Daleks were going to use your worlds as theirs - they were going to convert you all. The Time Lords decided to destroy to prevent. And I am sorry, I am so sorry. But it wasn't your fault - it wasn't your people's fault. It was mine."

He slowly approached the Conscious as the room began to become bluer and bluer. Emma's heart raced in her chest almost painfully as she watched him almost fall over as the ship began to fly at an angle. If they didn't end this soon, they were going to crash.

"Please," said the Doctor softly, his voice almost inaudible to Emma's ears. "Think about this. You're better than this, Conscious. You can stop."

The Conscious made a noise that sounded like a sob. It broke Emma's heart. "I am not trying to kill them," he said. "The energy is killing me."

"I know," said the Doctor. "But is ending the pain really worth all these lives? Let me help you."

The shaking started to slow. The ship began to right itself. The blue glow was going away. The Conscious began to shrink its size.

Emma let out a long breath she hadn't realized she had been holding as she was able to let go of the door. She saw Mayson curled up in a ball on the floor, his hands over his head and his knees nearly in his face. For an old man, he was pretty flexible when he was frightened to death.

She slowly approached the Doctor as he looked down at the Conscious sadly. It was no longer moving.

"What happened to him?" Emma asked gently.

"He didn't let go of the energy," the Doctor answered, pocketing his screwdriver in his suit jacket. "It killed him. Just like he wanted it to."

Emma felt her heart breaking even more. "What do we do?"

He didn't answer and instead closed the cabinet. At that moment, Emma heard bustling movement behind them and saw that Mayson had stood and was trying to get out the door.

"Oi!" she called, running after him. She managed to grab a hold of his arm and stop him. "Where d'you think you're going?"

He tried to shake her off as he scowled. "Let go of me!"

"I don't think so! Not after what you did."

"What are you going to do, little girl? Kill me?"

Emma shook her head. "No. I'm not a monster like you."

Mayson narrowed his eyes at her, but she could tell that behind his attempt to appear aggressive, he was actually terrified.

And, Emma thought, he better be.

* * *

Emma stood inside the TARDIS, arms crossed over her chest and leaning against a railing next to the console as the Doctor finished up outside the box. After the whole incident with the Conscious, he had forced Mayson to stay with them as he landed the ship in a safe place. He then turned the ship invisible (even though there was no button to do so as Mayson told them, but the screwdriver said differently) and they went back to the TARDIS, bringing the old man with them. Needless, to say, he was a bit overwhelmed with the whole "bigger on the inside" concept. The Doctor then took them to a place where he wanted to meet with a group called the Shadow Proclamation. He said he would only be gone for a few minutes as he turned Mayson over to them before returning to the TARDIS. Sure enough, after short period of time, he returned and ran up the ramp, his overcoat billowing out behind him.

"Ready to go back home?" he asked Emma without looking at her.

"Your people are gone?" she said in reply.

The Doctor stopped his energetic dance around the console and looked up at her with sad eyes.

"Yes."

She nodded. "And they were killed in a war, you said?"

"The Time War. The Last Time War." He paused. "I'm the last of the Time Lords."

"So that's why you don't go home, then? Because it's not there anymore?"

"Yes."

Emma let out a deep breath. "I'm sorry. It must be terrible."

He didn't answer, not that she expected him to. Instead he just ran around, pushing the different buttons. She both heard and felt the TARDIS dematerialized and only a few seconds of awkward silence later it materialized somewhere else. Without waiting for him, she walked down the ramp out opened the door, stepping out into a quiet evening in Greenford. They were in exactly the same place they had been when they left.

"How long have I been gone?" she asked as she heard the Doctor follow her out.

"Only five minutes," he answered and then added, "Hopefully."

Emma turned around and smiled at him. "That was amazing, by the way. I mean, I never thought I'd see 24th century Cardiff."

She was pleased to see him grin back at her like they had never talked about his home world. "Glad to hear it!

Emma sobered and her smile fell, though she forced another one through. "So, I guess this is it then."

The Doctor shrugged nonchalantly. "I suppose. Unless..." He reached into his coat and pulled out something. He then pulled his hand out and held it in a fist in front of her. He opened it and in his palm sat a small, shining key.

"What is it?" Emma asked as he extended it towards her and she gladly accepted it. Part of her already knew the answer, but she wanted to hear him say it.

"Key to the TARDIS," he replied.

She looked down at the key as it softly glowed warmly in the palm of her hand. It made her smile.

"Why did you give me a key to the TARDIS?"

He shrugged again. "Oh, I dunno. Just in case you wanted to travel with me-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence as Emma flung herself forward and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. She heard the Doctor laugh as he reciprocated.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed into his shoulder. She suddenly moved back with a horrified expression. "Oh, but my mum! Wait a minute, I'm an adult! I can do what I want." She held up her index finger. "Just give me one moment."

Without waiting for a response, she took off towards Costons Lane. She could see her home and went as fast as she could through the snow. With shaking hands, she fumbled with her own key and unlocked the door. Once inside, she ran up the stairs and threw her messenger bag onto her bed. She opened it and threw a bunch of clothes in, not bothering to fold them; she didn't want to keep the Doctor waiting.

"Emma?" called Natalie's voice. "Emma, are you home?"

"In my room!" she replied.

As she struggled to fit everything in, Natalie came busting up the stairs and wandered into her daughter's room. She eyed the bag warily and then turned to her daughter.

"Love," she said slowly with raised eyebrows, "what are you doing?"

Emma didn't look up and instead continued what she was doing. "Packing."

"To go where?"

She looked up now and smiled. "Everywhere. Mum, I'm going everywhere, just like I've always wanted to."

Natalie shook her head, some dull red hair falling in her face. "Sweetheart, you can't just take off!"

"Yes, I can! Don't you see?" Emma gently grasped Natalie's upper arms. "I want this. I want to travel and see the world; just like Gran and Grandad! I want to learn stories and tell them to my children and to theirs. I want that, mum. I want it _so_ bad."

"You barely have any money!"

Emma laughed. "Isn't that great?"

Natalie stood there flabbergasted while Emma finished up with her packing. She slung the messenger bag over her shoulder and turned back to her mother.

"You've gone barmy..." Natalie muttered.

"I know," Emma replied. She wrapped her arms around her mother. "But I need this. I'll be gone for...a week? Hopefully. I'll be back for Abigail's wedding, how about that?"

She pulled back to see that same baffled expression plastered on Natalie's face.

"What about your father-"

"Tell him I love him and I'll be back." Emma walked past her mother and went down the stairs, Natalie quickly on her heels.

"Where exactly are you going?" she said in a scolding voice.

Emma stopped at the door and adjusted her bag and smiled. "Everywhere. I'm gonna go everywhere." She kissed her mother on the cheek. "I love you, mum."

"Wait, Emma-"

But it was too late. Emma was already walking out the door and down the empty street, her hands in her coat pockets.

"Be careful!" Natalie yelled from the door. "I love you!"

Emma glanced over her shoulder and smiled at her one last time. Needless to say, Natalie looked thoroughly confused and worried, but wasn't going to follow. That certainly made things easier.

Back in front of the shop, the Doctor still stood at the TARDIS, looking around at everything. Once he spotted Emma coming up the street, he stood up straighter and opened the door.

"Ready?" he asked with a smile.

Emma came up to him and returned it. "Ready."

And so she walked into the TARDIS and into a new life.

* * *

**Next Time:**

**Planet of Barcelona**

**The Doctor takes Emma to the planet of Barcelona where the president has mysteriously disappeared and war amongst the people threaten to break out. And, of course, the dogs are noseless.**

* * *

_So how do you guys like these original adventures so far?_


	5. The Planet, Not The City

**Chapter Five**

**Planet of Barcelona**

**The Planet, Not The City**

Emma shed her coat and scarf and let them drape over her messenger bag where it sat on the jump seat, finding her purple jumper to be enough to keep her warm. Truth be told, adrenaline was still pumping through her veins and keeping her going. She grabbed a chain she had managed to stick in her bag and placed the TARDIS key on it. She then pulled it over her head and stuck it under her jumper, feeling the strange warmth of the metal against her skin. It was rather comforting.

"So, where are going then?" she asked as the Doctor piloted the spaceship. She still couldn't believe she was traveling with an alien in a ship that looked like a police box.

"Barcelona!" he exclaimed loudly and happily. "Not the city, though, the planet. Always wanted to go there." He came over to Emma, beaming. "The dogs don't have noses! Interesting place, Barcelona. Also one of the most popular tourist planets - people come from all over the universe to see it."

Emma's heart picked up its speed. "We're going to another planet?" She watched the Doctor nod, not hiding his amusement from her reaction. "We're going to another planet!"

It seemed almost unreal. She almost had to sit down as the realization hit her. She was going to another planet. How cool was that? How many people could say they went to another planet? Sure, visiting 24th century Cardiff had been amazing, but it was nothing like knowing she would be stepping on terrain that perhaps humans had never stepped on before.

The TARDIS landed and materialized. Emma quickly grabbed her mobile out of her bag (it unfortunately reminded her of the Conscious phones) and slid it into her pocket as best she could before following the Doctor down the ramp and to the door. He pulled it open and the two stepped out.

They were in some sort of park. A warm sun was shining down on them and Emma couldn't help but notice that the planet Barcelona had two suns hanging in the sky. They made the light green grass almost glow and reflected off the forest green leaves of the trees. It was almost amusing how the trunks of the trees were square instead of circular. The park was expansive and extended for quite a ways. There was a stone path that led through it with curves here and there. Wooden benches sat on the edges every so often. Children were running around and laughing, parents were keeping close watch on them. A few incredibly realistic kites flew in the sky. They truly looked like dragons and fish and whatever those scaly, turtle like things were.

"Looks a bit like Earth," the Doctor commented, almost like he was disappointed.

Emma looked up at him. "You've never been here?"

He shook his head, putting a hand over his eyes to shield them from the two suns. "Nah, I was always busy."

Emma looked around again in bewilderment. This was another planet. She was in a completely different place in the universe. For all she knew, they were no longer in the same galaxy. It almost brought her to tears.

"Come on, Emma Scott!" the Doctor suddenly exclaimed, putting out his arm. "Allons-y!"

All the feelings of being overwhelmed vanished and she took his arm happily.

They headed for the path and walked down it. The air was pretty warm, actually, and Emma was thanking herself for leaving her coat behind. As they walked, they passed all sorts of people that were certainly not human and things that were definitely not from Earth. She noticed that some animals were wandering about as well and pointed out a dog as his owner walked him.

"They _are_ noseless!" she exclaimed as he licked the ground instead of smelling it like a normal dog.

The Doctor's face was the epitome of glee as he watched the dog walk by.

"Noseless dogs!" he exclaimed. "Who would have thought of noseless dogs? I want a noseless dog."

"And keep it on the TARDIS?" Emma asked incredulously.

"Well, I think I could work something out."

They walked for a bit before a beautiful and large building stood before them. Its base was rectangular and outlined with dozens of tall, white pillars. On top of it was a perfectly curved, half-moon dome. Like the pillars, the rest of the building was also outstandingly white. Stone steps led up to the front of it with grand doors pushed open. People went in and out; some clearly tourists and others in formal garb. Lots of different species were wandering about as well. There were some beings that were clearly human, but many others looked like aliens. There were lizard people with weird containers of bubbling water where their mouth should be, people that looked like cats, strange little people that looked a bit like marshmallows with limbs, and tons of others.

"There's so many aliens," Emma muttered, her eyes wide as she tried not to stare at the group of cat people that walked by.

"Well, think of how they look at you with your red and purple," said the Doctor. "Just try not to stare."

Emma gulped and nodded. The Doctor then led her towards the stairs and she really did try hard not to stare, but it was so hard. Not simply because everything was so different and new, but because she was just so curious. She saw a group of teenage girls who looked almost human except for the beautiful, delicate wings that protruded from their backs. Each one looked unique from its patterns to its colours. They wore startlingly shiny dresses over their smooth skin. When they noticed her staring, they huffed and strutted off with their chins in the air.

When the two of them entered the building, Emma was officially blown away if she hadn't been before. They were in the entrance foyer of some sort of atrium. It sort of reminded her of a fancy museum. The walls were whitewashed with different paintings and carvings hung on them with spotlights shining down and descriptions below each object. The floor was made of beautiful grey stone that was shiny it reflected the image of each person. There was a circular information desk in the center of the foyer where different speices worked together and handed out pamphlets and answered questions. Tour guides were gathering up their groups and leading them through different doors or taking them beyond the desk where the atrium lay. It was where the dome on top of the building sat, leaving natural light streaming through and illuminating the entire area. There was a railing which went around a circular holed in the floor where people looked down at the others on different floors.

The Doctor left Emma to stand in wonder as he went up to the desk and grabbed a pamphlet, politely thanking the woman who gave it to him.

"Where exactly are we?

"The Capital of Barcelona," the Doctor read from the pamphlet. He opened up the folds. "They've got a banana garden! I love bananas. Bananas are good."

Emma gave a good-natured scoff. "Oh, not you, too! My dad is obsessed with bananas."

The Doctor curiously raised his eyebrows. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah, really." Emma shook her head exasperatedly. "There's two things he's obsessed with - bananas and his old watch."

The Doctor's eyebrows now scrunched together, but Emma didn't notice as she looked a different way. "Old watch?"

"What is that?" Emma asked suddenly.

She jabbed her chin in the direction of some sort of alien to avoid pointing. It had long, tentacle like things hanging from where a mouth would be and small, slanted eyes that stared forward almost unseeingly. It wore a nice suit with a nametag over his left breast pocket (though it appeared to be blank) and held a white ball in its hand.

"An Ood?" the Doctor asked in confusion. "What's an Ood doing here?"

Emma looked up at him. "What's an Ood? Is it gonna hurt us?"

He shook his head. "Well, hopefully not. I'm not sure what year this is." Without another word, he strode over to the Ood, who looked up at him calmly. Emma was quick on the Time Lord's heels, refusing to let him out of her sight in such a foreign place.

"Excuse me," the Doctor said to the Ood with kind smile copying his tone, "I know this sounds a bit daft, but can you tell me what year this is?"

The Ood held up his ball and clicked it; lighting it up. "It is the year 4001."

The Doctor nodded, though he did look a bit worried. "Thank you."

The Ood clicked his ball again and Emma presumed he was going to say, "You're welcome." However, he said, "We're all going to die in here."

Emma sucked in a deep breath and turned to the Doctor, attempting to keep her face from showing her growing concern.

"Excuse me?" asked the Doctor, eyeing the Ood.

The other alien shook his ball and clicked it again. "My apologies. Have a nice day."

And then he walked away.

"Well," said Emma, turning with the Doctor to watch from over their shoulders as the Ood wandered aimlessly around the foyer, "if that wasn't some type of threat, then I don't know what is."

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, making it all stick up wildly. "A bit of it makes sense, I suppose," he seemed to think out loud. "This is before the Ood got freed, which would explain why he seems to be working here - but nothing else makes sense."

"Wait, freed?" Emma repeated, moving out of the way as a family of cat people walked by. "What d'you mean freed? And what was the ball thing?"

"The Ood were slaves until - until a friend and I helped them." There was no mistaking the sad nostalgia in his voice, but it was gone once he spoke again. "But before that they would go a bit mad from the telepathy. Oh, and that was his telepathy ball. Anyway, I say we keep a good eye on that one."

"Alright everyone, please take out your tickets!"

Emma's eyes wandered around until she found the source of the voice and saw that it was a tour guide who was gathering her group which just so happened to include the winged girls and the cat family. There was also a human couple, three of those lizard like things - and the Ood. The tour guide was young human woman with light blonde hair pulled into a bun at the base of her neck and wore a black trouser suit with high heels that clicked loudly on the hard floor.

"What better way to watch him than to go on a tour with him?" Emma asked, looking to the Doctor for approval. "But then again, we don't have tickets."

He smiled. "We don't need tickets."

Emma returned the expression as they linked hands and he took long strides towards the tour group with his long, skinny legs. She felt as though she was being partially dragged along as she tried to keep up with him.

"Tickets?" the tour guide asked the two of them as they reached the group. The Doctor reached into his coat and pulled out what looked like a badge wallet and showed it to the guide who smiled far too cheerfully to be genuine and nodded enthusiastically. He then put the wallet back in his coat. "Alrighty! My name is Olivia and let the tour begin!"

"If there's anything that doesn't makes sense here, it's her happiness," Emma remarked as Olivia began to lead the group towards some big doors that would bring them out of the foyer.

"Tell me about it," said one the cat people; the father, Emma presumed. He had black markings on his face and whiskers coming from near his pink nose. "Everyone working here is far too happy today."

Emma smiled, though she wasn't sure if it was from taking to a person that looked like cat or because he was trying to joke with her. "Are they normally rude?"

He shook his head. "Just not this thrilled to be working the Capital." He leaned in closer. Was that catnip Emma smelled? "If you ask me, I'd say there's something a bit fishy going on."

"Liam, stop it!" came the mother cat's voice. She looked a bit more tabby like. "They're all just trying to be friendly." She tried to move over the best she could to speak with Emma whilst holding onto the tiny paws of two of their whopping five children. Blimey, it was a whole litter. "Liam likes his conspiracies, he does. My name is Alice, by the way."

Emma smiled at her. "My name's Emma." She motioned towards the alien on her other side that had his hands in his trouser pockets and was intently listening to whatever Olivia was going on about. It kind of sounded like the history of the door they walked through or something. "This is the Doctor." She nudged him in the ribs.

"Ow!" He rubbed where she elbowed him. "What was that for?"

"Doctor, this is Liam and Alice," she said, motioning towards the cat family.

"Oh, hello!" He wiggled his fingers at them.

"Are you two married?" Alice asked curiously.

Both Emma and the Doctor immediately shook their heads vigorously and denied it.

"No, we're not-"

"We're not married-"

They both glanced towards each other as they spoke simultaneously and Emma looked away once Alice laughed good-naturedly; blushing furiously.

"It's just you look like you could be," the cat woman explained. "Just friends, then?"

"Yeah," said the Doctor, "just friends." He tugged on an ear. "If you don't mind me asking - what are Catkind doing on Barcelona?"

"We're on holiday," Liam replied as they all came to a stop in the long stretch of hallway they had been walking down. It had the same stone floor, but the walls were covered in paintings of different elderly men with small plaques below them engraved with their names. "Thought we might as well visit the most famous building on the planet!"

The Doctor beamed. "I hear that!"

Olivia cleared her throat loudly and everyone silenced instantly; they all turned their attention to her as she gave a clearly fake smile and clapped her hands together. "Alrighty! This is the Hall of the Presidents. Each one of these paintings was made by the most wonderful artist of the time and hung here." She motioned to each wall like a flight attendant pointing out the exits on a plane. "The first president, named after the first founder of Barcelo-"

Olivia was cut off as both the ceiling lights and the spotlights over paintings all flickered. The group remained silent like they were all holding their breath. The lights then all came on at once. Emma looked around her and saw that all the other group members were looking a bit worried now. Liam and Alice were holding their children close to them, the water in the cylinders on the lizard guys' faces was bubbling frantically, the winged girls were huddled close together, and the humans were staring at the lights with fearful expressions. However, the Ood simply stood there with his ball in his hand.

"That was nothing to worry about!" Olivia insisted, putting her hands in the air as if the group was losing control. But her tone, on the other hand, suggested this was not a normal occurrence nor was it anything to not worry about. "It was just a slight malfunction with the system. Anyway, we should move on."

As the group went into motion again towards some marble stairs, Emma turned towards the Doctor with worry sinking into her stomach. "It's not really a malfunction in the system, is it?"

He sighed and shot his eyebrows up and down. "I'm thinking not."

Emma followed the group up the stairs, staying close to the Doctor's side. One of the cat children was crying now. It was probably a little girl considering it was wearing a frilly pink dress over her black marked fur; it looked rather like Liam's. Alice held her and tried to soothe her.

They all filed into a room that wasn't far from the top of the stairs. It was a bit of an average room except for the the fact there was no windows. The only light came from the bulbs in the ceiling. A strangely colored flag that looked a bit like floral print stood tall and proud next to an empty wooden desk. The walls were painted white, though they looked pretty sturdy as well as the wood floor. Two white couches sat facing each other in the space before the desk with navy blue pillows resting on each arm.

"Welcome to the Cube Office!" Olivia said with her false spirit. "This is where the current president, Mr. Harrison Bell, often works on projects or does his president job."

"But if this is his office," said Emma, eyebrows knitted together in confusion, "then how are we allowed in it?"

Olivia's smiled faltered for a moment, but it returned quickly. "Well, this is a whole new part of the tour that just started two weeks ago! Surely you knew that when you bought the ticket, yes?"

Emma nodded, though she was starting to feel just as suspicious about the tour guide as she was about the Ood. She turned to the Doctor who looked actually looked rather excited to be in there. The corners of his lips were turned up in a smile of fascination that was rather endearing.

"Doctor," Emma mumbled, "I think there's something wrong."

The smile vanished and was replaced with a frown as his forehead creased. "Other than the Ood and the lights?"

She nodded, glancing over at Olivia as she went on about the Cube Office's history. "I think Liam was right; the workers seem too happy. And why are we allowed in the President's office on a tour?"

"Perhaps he's on holiday?" the Doctor suggested.

"For two weeks?"

All of a sudden, the lights began to flicker again before dying. The group stood in silence once more with bated breath. Seconds went by. _One, two, three, four, five, six_...Emma continued counting.

_Nine, ten, eleven..._

Nothing happened. It was pitch black and completely silent.

Then an alarm went off.

A large red light came from other side of the ceiling and flashed around the room whilst the alarm sounded. Emma saw Olivia lose her calm and cheery demeanor as she briskly made her way to the door; but the moment she went to keep it open, the door shut and steel automatically came down and covered it as an extra layer.

"This is not a drill," came a cool, female voice throughout the room. It sounded like a robotic recording. "This is not a drill. The Separatists have breached the Capital. I repeat, the Separatists have breached the Capital."

"What does that mean?" exclaimed one of the winged girls, the one with flowing yellow hair and wings that looked like the sky after a storm had passed.

"Don't tell me this is nothing to worry about," threw in Liam angrily. "Who are the Separatists?"

Olivia put her hands up, but this time to actually calm the group down. "If you would please listen-"

"I want my money back!" said the human man, pulling on his jacket lapels arrogantly while the dark woman with him wrapped her arms around herself.

"Are we trapped in here?" Alice inquired. "Can we get out?"

"Please, just listen-"

"This is ridiculous!" exclaimed the man.

"What is happening?" asked another winged girl, this time one with wings like a nearly clear rainbow.

"Is this why everyone is so cheery?" asked Liam.

The lizard guys made loud noises with their water cylinder mouths.

Everyone was talking at once. Some were angry and some were scared. The cat children were crying, though one of them was staring up at the red light and jumping, extending his claws as if he could reach up and scratch it. Emma was beginning to get a headache from the combination of so many voices and the sound of the alarm blaring in her ears.

"EVERYBODY QUIET!" shouted the Doctor, putting an index finger on his lips. "FINGERS ON LIPS!"

Everyone stared at him for a moment before they actually started to copy him and place a finger on their lips. Emma was astonished to say the least. She went along with it as well, feeling a bit like a school teacher trying to control a class of rowdy kids.

"Alright," he continued once everyone was silent and only the alarm could be heard. "First we need to turn that thing off. Does anyone know how? Olivia?"

She hesitantly removed her finger from her lips. "I - I - I'm just a tour guide."

The Doctor slowly stepped closer to her. "But you know something, don't you? Something to do with what's happening. That means you're more than just a tour guide."

It seemed as though what he said was right for Olivia battled with herself before hurrying to the other side of the desk. She bent down and reached underneath it, presumably pushing a button. The red light went back into the ceiling and the rest of the lights came on, but were a lot dimmer now. The blaring alarm was also silenced, but the cat children were still shaking. Thankfully, the crying had stopped.

"Thank you," said the Doctor. His index finger still remained on his lips. "Now, Olivia, who are the Separatists?"

The tour guide wrung her hands and bit her bottom lip. Her eyes darted around from one person to another before she finally let her gaze fall on the Doctor.

"They're a group of Barcelonans that disagree with having a human government," she answered. "But they've been peaceful! There's no reason for us to panic."

"My brother's friend is a Separatist," said the blonde winged girl. "He said they were making some sort of progress."

"Did he say what that progress was?" Emma asked. She suddenly realized that everyone had removed their fingers from their lips, though they were still calm.

The girl shook her head. "I don't get involved with that stuff."

"What's your name?" the Doctor inquired, slowly approaching her and reaching into his coat.

"Fillia," she answered. She motioned to the girl with the rainbow wings and chocolate brown hair that flowed down her back in waves and then to the last girl whose wings and hair were sparkling gold. "These are my friends; Salene and Roe."

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver. "Are you Barcelonans?"

"Yes," answered Fillia, nodding.

The Doctor's face broke out in a large grin. "Nice to meet you!" He then turned towards the rest of the group. "I'm the Doctor, just so everyone knows. This is my friend Emma." He motioned towards her with his arm and glanced back at her. She gave a small wave.

"My name's Louis," said the man who had arrogantly pulled on his jacket. This time he gave Emma a rather flirty look while slicking back his black hair with his hand. He didn't introduce the dark woman with curly hair beside him.

Emma frowned.

"I'm Phoebe," the woman said, looking side-long at Louis. "I'm his girlfriend."

Louis didn't take his eyes off Emma. "More like a friend really."

Emma looked away, disgusted.

Everyone else introduced themselves then. Liam and Alice gave their names as well as their children's; Charlie, Max, Ava, Millie, and Roxane. The lizard guys were apparently a race called the Hath and were actually really nice despite their strange appearance. However, the Doctor pretty much had to translate everything due to the language barrier. The Ood, though, remained silent.

"Now that we're all properly acquainted," began the Doctor, "we need to find a way out of this room."

"It's all locked down," explained Olivia. "The only way out is from someone coming and opening the door with a special key." She pointed to a wall. "There's a secret door there; provisions lay behind it. They could last for weeks - maybe even months. It's meant for the president if he were to get stuck in here."

"Where is the president, anyway?" asked Phoebe.

"That's a good question," the Doctor agreed, turning back to Olivia. "Where _is_ the president?"

She looked nervous again.

"Is he missing?" Emma guessed.

Olivia appeared stunned. "How could you possibly know that?"

Emma shrugged. "I didn't. It was just a lucky guess. Now we know what happened, though."

Out of the corner of her eye she could see the Doctor looking at her proudly.

"The president's not missing," said Roe from where she sat down on one of the couches. "We would know!"

"But it was a secret," said Emma, catching on pretty quick. "He went missing two weeks ago, didn't he? But why would there be tours going through his office then?"

Olivia looked defeated and slumped down onto the couch next to Roe.

"This whole thing is a complete mess," said the tour guide.

"Tell me about it," Louis remarked. Phoebe nudged him in the ribs.

The Doctor got down on one knee in front of Olivia and pushed her chin up with his finger, forcing her to look at him. "Olivia," he said, "I need you to tell me everything. It's the only way we're getting out of here."

From what Emma could see, Olivia met his gaze and let out a shaky breath; she looked like she was going to start crying.

"My name is Olivia Bell," she said. "Harrison is my uncle."

Ah. So that explained some things.

"He went missing two weeks ago," she continued. "There was no note, no trace, no anything. He just vanished into thin air in this very room. The government has been keeping it secret so as not to panic the people. The Separatists - they've been threatening a war for some time now. If people found out the president was missing, then non-Separatists would declare war. They'd assume it was the Separatists that kidnapped the president."

"Then why have tours through here?" the Doctor asked.

Olivia shook her head. "I don't know. I was against it!"

"Well, that doesn't matter now," said Liam. "We just need to find a way out."

"There is no way out," argued Olivia.

Emma went to the Doctor as he stood up and looked around the room. "Can't you use your screwdriver to open the door?" she asked.

"I might be able to get the steel to go up, but the other door is made of wood," he answered, placing his hands on his hips.

"What does the door being wood have to do with anything?"

"It doesn't do wood," he answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

Emma shook her head incredulously. "It doesn't do wood? What's the point in having it if it doesn't do wood!"

The Doctor's face scrunched up. "It's not my fault! But then again, I probably should add that setting..."

"Does the phone work?" asked Roe hopefully. "Maybe we can call for help!"

Louis went over to the phone and picked up, placing it at his ear. He shook his head. "It's not working." He then placed it back down.

"Great," said Salene, sitting down on the sofa opposite Roe. "We're really stuck in here."

"Wait a minute," spoke Liam. He pulled on a whisker thoughtfully. "How do you know that it wasn't the Separatists who kidnapped the president?"

Olivia shrugged. "We don't. But it's not something they would do. This - breaking into the Capital and putting it on lockdown - is something they would do. They like to be seen, the Separatists."

"What's going to happen now?" the Doctor asked her.

"I don't know. Maybe something can be worked out with them; I don't think that will happen, though. More than likely there will be a civil war."

Fallia shook her head. "The Separatists just want peace; that's what my brother's friend said."

"Well your brother's friend is obviously wrong," Louis argued angrily. He began to pace impatiently. "I can't be stuck in here for so long! I have a job to get back to."

"I'm sorry, but you're just going to have to wait," Emma told him. His pacing was making her nauseous. "And would you sit down? That's not helping."

Instead of giving her a flirty look, he scowled and mumbled something under his breath. However, he did sit down on the arm of one of the sofas. It was certainly better than having him constantly moving around in her peripheral vision.

"So if we're sealed in here," said Alice, holding onto her children as best she could, "does that mean we'll run out of air?"

"We're going to run out of air?" asked Louis, suddenly frightened.

"We're not going to run out of air," said Phoebe, her tone suggesting she was clearly annoyed. "Olivia said there was enough food to last for weeks - that means there would probably be enough air."

"But there's so many more people!" exclaimed Roe. She looked to the Doctor. "Doctor, are we going to run out of air?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. I honestly don't know." He took out his screwdriver and went up to the walls, making the device whir and buzz.

Emma, on the other hand, went over to the desk. She noticed that the Ood was watching her closely; his slanted eyes followed her every movement. It made her incredibly uncomfortable, but she tried to push it out of her mind.

_We're all going to die in here._

Perhaps the Ood had been right.

Emma turned her attention back to the desk and began to examine it. The others were talking among themselves, mostly about ways to conserve oxygen. It was a bit ironic. The desk looked normal enough. There was no sign that suggested the president struggled to avoid being taken or that he even taken at all. She ran her fingers lightly on the dark wood, looking for maybe a secret button or compartment that could give them any clues. She pushed the comfy, leather chair out of the way and found that a strange symbol was stained on the carpet. It was a circle with two wavy lines cutting across it horizontally.

"Olivia?" Emma called over the desk, pushing some hair out of her face. "Can you come over here?"

The tour guide still looked rather devastated over the situation, but she had calmed down considerably. Once she heard Emma, she stood up and moved over to where the redhead was crouched.

"What does this symbol mean?" Emma asked, pointing to the circle.

Olivia furrowed her brow. "I - I don't know. I've never seen that. It's not the Separatist symbol, that's for sure."

"D'you think it might have to do with your uncle's disappearance?"

"Maybe..."

Emma moved the chair back to its original spot and sat in it. She wondered for a moment if she was being disrespectful, but Olivia didn't comment on the invasion of her uncle's things. Just to be safe, Emma added, "Would you mind if I went through some of his things?"

Olivia didn't hesitate as she shook her head. "Do anything you think might help."

Emma smiled. "Thanks." She watched as Olivia slowly moved back to her seat on the sofa, her hands sitting sadly on her lap. Emma returned her gaze to the desk and saw that the top was pretty much clear. More than likely someone had already cleaned out the thing to make sure no one got any important information. But surely there would still be something left...

She went through all the different drawers and even some secret compartments and found absolutely nothing. Nada. Zilch. The entire desk was empty. If they were certain the president was simply kidnapped, why would all his stuff be gone.

Emma stopped her search as the Doctor finished his own investigation and came over to her, leaning his elbows on the desk and stooping low to talk to her.

"The walls are all made of the same steel over there," he stated in a low voice, pointing at the steel covered door. "But there's no extra room."

"The food filled room?"

He nodded. "I couldn't find one. I don't think there ever even was one."

Emma thought for a moment. "But then why would Olivia tell us that there was one? Why would she lie?"

"Because I don't think she's lying. I think she's been lied to." He looked over at Olivia. "What are the chances that the president's niece, who just so happens to be a Capital tour guide, is told that being locked in the Cube Office is completely safe and gets told to bring tours through there starting when the president disappears into thin air."

"D'you think someone wants her dead?"

He shook his head. "I think someone wants her alive."

It didn't take her long to connect the dots. "Is that someone the Separatists?"

"It's the only explanation that makes sense."

Emma thought again. "And if they want her alive, what better place to trap her than in here where they can be the ones to rescue her."

The Doctor glanced at her, looking both proud at her train of thought and worried about the situation. "Which would mean they've got people inside the Capital; more than likely someone in this group to make sure she was in here at the right time."

"Which means we can't trust anyone in this room."

Both Emma and the Doctor looked at each person in the Cube Office with them. The Hath were talking to each other with their bubbling liquid, the Barcelonans were trying to cheer up Olivia, Louis was looking annoyed at everything while Phoebe looked annoyed with him, Liam and Alice were comforting their children, and then there was the Ood; he stood there in his spot away from everyone else with his eyes still trained on Emma.

Out of nowhere the steel over the door shot up and everyone was on their feet. The Doctor moved forward towards the door, Emma staying at his side. They all waited as the door was swung open and several people clad in black gear moved inside. They all wore masks and bullet proof vests and cargo pants tucked into combat boots. Each one held a large gun, holding them up and pointing them at all the people in the room. From every person's back protruded beautiful wings, just like the three Barcelonans.

The first one in the room held their gun firmly in their hands. "We're looking for Olivia Bell!"

The Doctor stepped forward, eyeing the weapon furiously. "Who are you?"

The person took off their mask to reveal a man with messy, brown hair and freckle covered cheeks. His dark eyes looked the Doctor up and down.

"We're the Separatists," said the man, "and we're here to start a war."


	6. Something's Odd With The Ood

**Chapter Six**

**Planet of Barcelona**

**Something's Odd With The Ood**

The word "war" was clearly one of the Doctor's least favorite words, though Emma expected nothing less. The moment the Barcelonan walked in and said those words, the Doctor's face became fierce. He stood tall over the other man, sonic screwdriver in hand.

"No one's starting a war today," he said sternly.

"Yeah?" asked the Barcelonan incredulously. "And who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor and you're not taking any of these people."

"I had a feeling someone would say that." He looked over his shoulder. "Maco, send in the smoke!"

The first Barcelonan pulled his mask back on as the one named Maco came forward and threw a small object into the room. Before anyone could react, something popped out of the top and smoke filled the room.

Emma began coughing and she pushed herself to the floor. Down there it was a bit easier to breathe, but it was impossible to see what was going on. Others were also coughing and there was quite a lot of movement. There was a few screams and yelps and then it got quiet. She waited patiently as the smoke began to fade. Once it was clear enough to see in front of her, she stood up and looked around her. The room had become quite empty.

The Hath were still huddled together and looking panicked; Phoebe was holding onto a sofa tightly; the Ood still stood eerily to the side.

Everyone else was gone. Including the Doctor.

They were separated.

_Again_.

"Okay," Emma said to herself. "Okay, it's okay." She took a deep breath and straightened her jumper. She then walked over to the Hath. "Are you all okay?"

She wasn't sure if they understood her, so she gave them a shrug and two thumbs up. Hopefully that was still a universal symbol in the year 4001.

She then went up to Phoebe. "You alright?"

Phoebe nodded, though she looked as though she was awfully frightened. But considering what just happened, she seemed relatively okay.

After that, Emma slowly approached the Ood apprehensively. He simply stood there as walked up to him, eyeing his telepathy ball.

"Are you alright?" she asked him.

The Ood kept his eyes on her and used his ball. "They are coming."

"Who's coming?"

He remained quiet, lowering his ball. Frustrated, Emma racked her fingers through her hair and took a deep breath to calm herself.

"Okay," she thought out loud, "we're all okay. That's good." She looked to the door. The steel was covering it again. Even if the actual door was hanging open, they still would have no way out. "Great. Okay, so does anyone know what happened to the others?"

"The Separatists took them," replied Phoebe. She wrapped her arms around herself where she stood. "It was hard to tell, though."

"It's really the only option." Emma felt a total dread as she realized the Doctor was absent, thus taken along with the others. Great. They were separated. Again.

"We're stuck in here, aren't we?" Phoebe asked. She was clearly trying to stay calm.

Emma nodded reluctantly. "I suppose so."

Phoebe forced a weak chuckle. "At least we have a room full of provisions."

"About that," said Emma, "there is no room like that."

"What d'you mean?"

Emma motioned around the room. "There is no well stocked room or anything. It was a lie. The Doctor said so."

Phoebe shook her head. "He has to be lying."

"I don't think he'd lie about that."

Emma wondered if perhaps there was some secret button on the walls, so she immediately went over to one and started feeling it. As she went around the room, the Hath sat down and Phoebe began to slowly pace nervously. The Ood stayed still.

"Nothing," Emma muttered to herself when she finished the square. She felt a bit panicked now, but when she saw the other woman's terrified face, she pushed the feeling down and tried to remain calm. Freaking out wouldn't do anyone any good.

"So what do we do?" Phoebe asked in a small voice.

Emma looked towards their only exit. "We're just going to have to wait."

* * *

After the smoke had filled the room, the Doctor could easily tell people were panicking. He tried to reach for some of them as they wandered through their haze of coughing and disorientation in hopes that he'd find Emma. He was soon forced to cover his mouth with his long coat in order to breathe properly and saw through squinted eyes that the Barcelonans with guns were grabbing some of the group and pulling them along. He then quickly moved forward and tried to follow them, walking straight out the door.

Once outside the room, he looked around frantically. The air was clear of smoke, thankfully, but there were lots of people mingling with one another. He spotted the Catkind family and Louis as well as the three Barcelonan girls. Olivia was being dragged out by the lead Separatist and brought to a group of many others, all with beautiful wings on their backs.

"Maco," shouted the lead Separatist, "shut the door!"

"Wait!" the Doctor exclaimed, his eyes darting about. "There are people still in there!" Including Emma.

They ignored him. The one presumably named Maco whipped out some sort of small tablet and touched the screen a few times. The smoke was still thick at the door and the Doctor wasn't able to see inside, but he still ran for it. The moment he was about to get back into the room, the steel wall fell down and he was cut off.

What was it with steel walls lately?

The Doctor didn't bother trying to send it back up and instead turned around to look at the Separatists, the Oncoming Storm blazing in his eyes.

"Open this door," he commanded sternly.

"Can't do that, mate," said Maco, putting the tablet back in its appropriate pocket. "We need the hostages for a reason."

"My friend is in there," the Doctor continued.

"Well, if she behaves you'll get her back," said the lead Separatist. He took off his mask again and shook his hair out. "Smoke's clear, everyone!"

All the Barcelonans Separatists (which looked to be at least a dozen people) took off their masks and stuffed them into the pockets on their vests. Every single one of them held guns and looked like they wouldn't hesitate to shoot anyone within range. The Doctor felt disgusted.

"What d'you need hostages for?" he asked the leader.

The leader scoffed. "Why would I tell you? Maco, let's get these people to the camp."

As the Separatists began to herd the group away from the Cube Office and to the stairs, the Doctor moved towards Liam and Alice who were blatantly frightened and holding onto their children desperately.

"Just stay calm," the Doctor told them, watching the Separatists warily. "I don't think they want to hurt us."

"What makes you say that?" asked Liam distraughtly.

"The leader referred to the ones in the room as hostages, but not us."

This didn't sit well with Liam. "But they might want to execute us!"

The Doctor shook his head. "They wanted Olivia alive and now they've got her." He pointed to the leader who had Olivia's arm in his grasp and was moving her along with them.

"But what does that mean?"

"It means that this group they want alive." Hopefully.

The Doctor looked back at the door to the Cube Office as the Separatists started leading everyone away. He was going to come back for her. He just had to make sure he wasn't too late.

It wasn't long before the Doctor moved forward towards the lead Separatist as he gently brought Olivia along.

He tugged on an ear. "Who are you, anyway?"

"My name's Riv," answered the leader. They all walked down the stairs together, the Catkind, Louis, and the Barcelonan girls doing so without hesitation.

"Nice to meet you, Riv. Like I said, I'm the Doctor."

"Doctor what?"

He shrugged. "Just the Doctor."

"Alright, just the Doctor." Riv eyed him skeptically as the group walked into the entrance foyer. It was completely void of people.

The Doctor stuck his hands in his pockets. "Where are you taking us?"

"To our camp outside," Riv answered.

"You've got a camp?" The Doctor's eyebrows shot up. "Already?"

"Why d'you think it took us so long to get to the Cube Office? It's not like we'd just storm the Capital unprepared."

They all filed out of the Capital and the Doctor found himself rather impressed with the camp the Separatists had set up for themselves in the front. There were large tents being supported by steel rods rammed into the ground. Long tables were set up in between the tents where various weapons were waiting to be picked up. Many other Barcelonans dressed in all black (with the exception of their wings) were moving around crates and and sorting the weapons.

"What did you do with the rest of the people in the Capital?" the Doctor asked.

"We let most of them go," Riv replied. He motioned for some of his people to take the Catkind to one tent.

"What about us, then?" demanded Liam. Behind his fierce, cat expression, he seemed almost frightened to ask.

"Oh, don't worry," said Riv, waving his hand nonchalantly. "We're just going to wipe your memories. You'll forget this ever happened."

"That's your solution, then?" asked the Doctor incredulously. "You just erase everyone's memories?"

"Actually, we don't really erase it," said one of the Barcelonan Separatists, the one named Maco. Without his mask he was a man in his late twenties with dark, messy curls and stubble on his chin. "We just sort of put a block on it, really. The memories are still there, but suppressed."

Riv rolled his eyes. "You don't need to explain anything to him," he snapped. "Just do your job."

Maco looked down shamefully and muttered an apology. He then shuffled away from the group.

Suddenly, Fillia spoke up. "Riv, please don't do this."

The Doctor quickly put the pieces together. If Fillia knew Riv, then clearly he was her brother's friend - the one she kept mentioning. He watched the scene unfold curiously.

Riv turned angry and spoke in a low voice. "Fillia, what are you doing here?"

"Becker said you were going to storm the Capital today," said Fillia. She motioned to her friends. "We wanted to stop you."

"Wait," said the Doctor, putting a hand out, "you knew this was going to happen?"

Fillia turned to him guiltily. "Perhaps I had an idea."

This revelation made the Doctor irritated, but he had no time to say anything more to her.

"That doesn't matter now," he said. He turned to Riv. "What does matter is how you're wiping their memories."

Riv smirked arrogantly. "Come and have a look. Maco! Bring the felines as well."

The Separatists took the Doctor and the others (with the exception of Olivia who was dragged off to her own tent) to a tent where many other Barcelonans were going in and out.

Riv went first and lifted the folds of the entrance. The Doctor was forced to bend down quite a lot to get his whole body through as the entrance was rather short. Inside there were, surprisingly, several Ood moving about. They were all dressed as if they had worked at the Capital, wearing nice suits and blank name tags over their breast pockets. The Barcelonans ordered them around like the slaves they were supposedly born to be and were yelling at the ones who did things wrong.

"You've got Ood?" the Doctor wondered aloud, running a hand through his hair and placing the other on his hip.

"Of course we've got Ood," answered Riv like it was obvious. "They do the stuff we don't want to."

"That's barbaric," said Selene, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Funny you should say that when our government is being run by humans," Riv told her.

"Is that what this whole problem is?" the Doctor asked. He turned his attention from the Ood to Riv. "You want the humans gone?"

"We want our planet back, Doctor. They refused to let us have a say in our government, so we retaliated."

"By storming the Capital?" The Doctor looked around confusedly. "This doesn't make sense."

Riv scoffed. "What doesn't make sense?"

The Doctor knew this was a bit risky, but decided to say it anyway. "Well, it's just the fact your guns aren't real. Why would you storm the Capital with fake guns?"

Riv stared at him, mouth agape.

"They're not real?" asked Alice, slight relief appearing on her cat-face.

"Please tell me they're not real," added Liam hopefully.

Riv still stared at the Doctor with shock, making the Time Lord feel confident in his assumption.

"How could you possibly know that?" asked the Separatist leader. He turned to Maco. "Did you tell him? If you did, I swear I'll-"

"Nobody told me," said the Doctor, giving a smug smile. "It was just a guess. It worked for Emma so I thought it might work for me." He strode forward and whipped out his screwdriver, scanning each of the Ood individually. "Now, my question is why storm the Capital of your own planet with fake guns?"

"We're peaceful people, we are," answered Maco.

"Shut it, you buffoon," said Riv, elbowing the other Barcelonan.

"Oh," said the Doctor, raising his eyebrows, "you're peaceful?" He finished looking at the Ood and came to a bad conclusion. They were all on the same track as the ones he had seen attack others around them. Something was off here and it wasn't just the smell. "Well, if there's anything humans can teach you it's if you want peace you have to go to war."

"Exactly," answered Riv. "That's what we're doing. We have to show them this is our planet and we want it back."

"By hurting others?" asked Roe.

"Not by hurting others. But showing we're not afraid to take things by force."

Fillia frowned. "Isn't that the same thing?"

"We're not actually hurting anyone, miss," said Maco. "We just wanted to take the president's niece and mess with her mind a bit."

"Maco!" Riv exclaimed. His face was contorted with anger. "What d'you think you're doing? Shut up before I make you!"

The Doctor watched the exchange carefully. Although Riv was positively angry, he could tell there was no way the Barcelonan was going to shut up Maco by force. If they were truly peaceful people, they would stray from any violent actions. But then why would the Ood be so off? What have these people been doing?

"Where did you get the Ood?" the Doctor blurted suddenly.

"They were already here," said Riv. He glared at Maco as he answered. "They worked for President Bell, but we rewired their telepathic field. They work for us now."

The Doctor approached an Ood and looked into its eyes closely. "Do you know how to handle Ood."

"I do!" replied Maco, raising an arm like he was in school. He then lowered it ashamedly when Riv scowled at him. "I mean, I understand them a bit."

The Doctor watched as the Ood's eyes suddenly turned red. "Clearly you don't understand them enough." Without any warning, the Doctor pushed everyone towards the exit. "Everybody out!"

"What are you doing?" asked Riv, frowning deeply. "We're not done in here yet!"

"We have to get everyone out," the Doctor told him, stepping up close. He pointed towards the Ood who all had glowing red eyes. "If we don't, those Ood are going to kill us all."

Riv scoffed. "Watch and learn, Doctor." He stood in front of everyone, facing the Ood defiantly. "I command you to stop!"

The Ood didn't stop. None of them did. They all continued forward and raised their telepathy balls.

"They're attacking!" shouted Liam. He rushed out of the tent with his wife and kids.

The Doctor turned to Fillia and her friends. "Go, now! Warn all the others that the Ood are attacking!"

She didn't hesitate. After a short nod, she pushed her friends out of the tent and the folds fell closed.

The Doctor then turned his attention back to Riv, who was trying to be the hero. Except now he was much less confident than he had been before. He raised his fake gun and pointed it to the Ood.

"I'm warning you!" he shouted. "I'll shoot!"

Without wasting any time, the Doctor grabbed Riv's arm and pulled him away. The Ood started closing in on them, so he pulled the Barcelonan out of the tent and used the screwdriver to make sure it was sealed. Beside him, Riv stood shaking and wide-eyed.

"Ood aren't supposed to do that! They're obedient!"

"What have you been doing to them?" the Doctor inquired.

Riv shook his head nonchalantly. "That's all Maco's job." He put his hands on his hips and looked around. "Where did the bugger get off to now?"

The Doctor also noticed someone else was missing. Louis was nowhere to be seen. In fact, the Doctor couldn't even remember seeing the man arrive at the camp with the rest of them.

"Wait," said Alice suddenly, "wasn't there an Ood in our tour group?"

This made the Doctor's hearts drop when he realized that she was right. At this moment, Emma was stuck inside the Cube Office with an Ood that had been acting strange. For all he knew, it was going to end up just like all the others.

And so he took off running towards the Capital.

"Hey!" shouted Riv. "Where d'you think you're going?"

Without hesitation, Riv ran off after him.

* * *

It had to be at least an hour of waiting. Emma was starting to get restless and had sat on the sofa in about fifty different positions. Phoebe also sat on the sofa across from the Hath, though she was still and had her hands folded on her lap as she stared into space. The Ood stayed to the side, pretty much forgotten by everyone but Emma. She sighed loudly and moved from where she lay upside down on the sofa. Sitting up straight, she turned to Phoebe.

"Are you really Louis' girlfriend?" she asked.

In all honesty, Emma completely understood Phoebe's confused expression. The only reason she was asking was because she was so bored. Perhaps talking to someone would keep her occupied.

"Um, yes," Phoebe answered.

"He seems a bit daft, though, don't you think? I mean, he doesn't seem that nice to you."

Phoebe sighed. "He used to be a lot nicer. But then he got into a bad group of friends."

Emma made a sympathetic face. "I know what you mean. My brothers went through a phase back when we were teenagers. They don't like to talk about it."

"But that's just it!" Phoebe sat forward now, leaning towards Emma like they were best friends sharing some gossip. "He's not a teenager. He's twenty-seven years old and still acts like he needs to date the popular girl to be cool or something."

"He doesn't really seem the type to come to this place."

Phoebe shrugged. "I wanted to come here. I like visiting places where history is made, you know?" She chuckled shyly.

"Well," said Emma, hoping the Doctor wouldn't mind what she was saying, "I hope you don't think I'm crazy but...I'm from the past."

Phoebe frowned. "Wait, what?"

"I'm from Earth in 2009." Emma stifled a smile as Phoebe's eyes widened. Is this what it felt like to be the Doctor?

"Get out!"

"I'm serious!" She couldn't stop the smile much longer. "The Doctor brought me along in his time machine; he's not even human."

Phoebe took a deep breath. "But he looks human."

Emma shook her head. "I'll bet he'd say we look Time Lord."

"But...how do I know you're not lying?"

Emma thought for a moment. "Well, I live in Greenford and I work at my mum's bookshop and - oh!" She reached into her pocket and took out her phone. It didn't get any signal - not that she expected it to - but she could still reach her pictures and so she pulled up the one that showed her and her brothers in front of the shop once Natalie had inherited it. She showed it to Phoebe.

"This could easily be faked," she said.

"Then just look at the phone," Emma replied. "I highly doubt anyone's got a phone like that anymore."

Phoebe turned the phone over in her hand. "It hasn't got a touch screen." She looked up at Emma. "This is a really old phone."

Emma smiled. "Two thousand years old. Nearly." She took the phone back and placed it in her pocket. "The Doctor travels through time and space and he took me with him. I don't know why, honestly. I guess I'm just lucky."

"All of time and space?" Phoebe asked.

"Yep."

She sat back for a moment, taking everything in. "I can barely get Louis to leave his house." She turned back to Emma. "You're from the past."

At this, Emma giggled. "That's what I've been trying to say!"

Phoebe laughed too. They both laughed because of the situation and the stress and tiredness of waiting to be rescued. Emma could tell that Phoebe didn't like having to depend on someone else and more than she did, so it seemed that talking to one another was really helpful.

"His song is ending."

Both Emma and Phoebe silenced immediately and looked over their shoulders at the Ood.

"What was that?" Emma asked him.

The Ood clicked his ball. "The Doctor's song is ending."

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Phoebe, her forehead creasing like Emma's was.

The Ood moved forward one step. "The drums are coming."

Emma's heart picked up speed. She grabbed Phoebe's arm as the Ood came closer to them. She pulled the other woman off the sofa and moved her towards the Hath who were all watching the Ood warily.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Emma said to the Ood, putting a hand in hopes he would stay back.

He went around the sofa. "We're all going to die in here."

At this, Emma pushed the Hath up and motioned for them to get behind the desk. She also nudged Phoebe towards there as well, but the woman refused to move.

"Now's not the time to be bold," Emma whispered to her.

Phoebe stood tall. "If you can stand up for us, then I can too."

Emma nodded reluctantly. She moved the two of them behind the sofa as the Ood continued his approach. They both gasped as his eyes began to glow red. Emma tried to remember what the Doctor said about how the Ood would go mad from the telepathy and suddenly wished she had asked about it more.

"What d'you want?" Emma asked him. "Just tell us and we can help."

"We're all going to die in here."

"Why does he keep saying that?" Phoebe's voice was higher than usual.

"We're all going to die in here."

"No, we're not going to die," said Emma sternly. "Just stop."

"We're all going to die in here."

Emma could hear the bubbling sound of the Hath growing louder.

"We're all going to die in here."

Out of nowhere, the Ood's ball shot forward at both Emma and Phoebe. Thankfully, the latter was quick enough and pulled them both down behind the sofa. Emma turned to look at the ball as it the wall behind them. It looked like was surrounded by electricity, making weird sizzling noises from where it was stuck in the wall. The Ood brought it back to him, leaving a dent in the wall. Emma was the first to pop back up and look over the sofa at the alien. His eyes were still glowing and his ball was still dangerous.

"We need to get out of here," she muttered.

"You think?" said Phoebe incredulously.

"We're all going to die in here."

Emma tried coming up with a plan as she heard the Ood's footsteps start to get closer. She knew it was only a matter of time before he got to them and they would have to find a new place to hide from him. It seemed that they were going to be forced to keep hiding from the Ood until help arrived and God knew how long that would take. The only thing she could think of was trying to find a way to stop the Ood; knocking him out...or worse.

"We need to take him down," Emma said. "Do you see any blunt objects nearby?"

Phoebe craned her neck around the sofa. "I see some stuff on the desk."

"Okay. Here's the plan - you run behind the other sofa and I grab something off the desk. I'll try to knock him out."

"What if it doesn't work."

Emma shrugged. "Let's hope it does."

Phoebe seemed reluctant, but she eventually nodded.

"On the count of three," said Emma. "One...two...three!"

Phoebe took off around the sofa and Emma got to her feet and quickly moved the desk. She grabbed the first thing she saw, which just so happened to be a stapler. Or at least it looked like a stapler. It was a lot bigger and heavier which was only going to help her more. Once she was sure that Phoebe was safe behind the sofa, she ran for the Ood and hit him in the back of the head with the stapler. He stumbled forward for a bit before regaining his balance and turning towards Emma with his glowing eyes. Her heart plunged to the pit of her stomach.

"There's only room for one," he said.

Emma frowned. "What does that mean?"

The Ood didn't answer as he lifted up his ball, aiming it towards Emma. Before she could react, the steel wall over the door shot up. The Ood became distracted and turned to see what had happened. In this moment, Emma acted fast and dropped the stapler.

"Phoebe, go!" she exclaimed as she ran for the Hath, ushering them towards the door.

Once everyone was out, two people came in. One was one of the Separatists and the other was - thank God - the Doctor.

"Stand down," the Separatist told the Ood.

"We're all going to die down here."

"Not today," said the Doctor. He lifted his screwdriver towards the Ood and the ball returned to normal. The Ood shook it a few times, but it remained normal.

With the distraction in place, Emma felt the Doctor grasp her arm and pull her out of the room. She watched the Separatist use some sort of touch screen device and managed to close the door with the Ood still inside. She took a deep breath and turned to the Doctor, quickly wrapping her arms around in neck in utter relief. He hugged her back and the two parted after a few seconds.

"There's something odd with the Ood," she told him.

"Tell me about it," he replied. "Oh, Emma! Meet Riv." He pointed to the Separatist who she recognized as the one who had spoken to them before they sent in the gas. "Riv, this is Emma."

Riv the Barcelonan didn't seem all too friendly and only glanced at her before speaking to the Doctor. "We need to get back to the camp."

The Doctor nodded. "Are you going to tell me why you need Olivia?"

"I thought you were clever, Doctor," said Riv. He snorted. "You should have figured it out by now." He then began walking away, presumably towards the camp.

"The guns are fake," the Doctor told her and the others.

"But I thought they wanted to start a war," said Phoebe.

The Doctor began to lead them all towards the direction Riv went, Emma staying close to his side. She wasn't going to risk letting him out of her sight again.

"They do," he continued. "But the Barcelonans are peaceful people. They want to take their government back."

"So that's why they want Olivia, right?" Emma thought aloud. "She's the President's niece and he's missing...it makes sense to take her."

"But this isn't a monarchy," argued Phoebe while the Hath made bubbling noises. "The presidency wouldn't go to her."

"Well," said the Doctor, "she _is_ a bit of a people person. If they can't get one of their own people as president, they might as well find someone who will side with them."

"So they don't _really_ want to start a war, do they?" Emma asked. She noticed they had left the hallway and entered the atrium.

"I wouldn't think so," said the Doctor.

"But then why was the Ood so violent?" inquired Phoebe.

"Oh, that?" the Doctor replied. "That's just the telepathic field. I don't think the Barcelonans knew what they were doing with the Ood. They nearly fried them all, actually."

"What d'you mean, fried?" asked Emma.

They now exited the Capital and before them stood the camp. Emma was rather impressed.

"Come to join us?" called Riv from a table filled with the fake guns.

The Doctor lead them all towards the table whilst Phoebe looked around, seeming a bit panicked.

"Where's Louis?" she asked.

Emma noticed, too, that Louis was missing. But there was no time for her to wonder about it any longer.

"What have you been doing to the Ood?" the Doctor asked Riv almost menacingly. There was something in the Time Lord's eyes that even made Emma feel slightly uneasy.

"Doctor," she said gently.

He ignored her. "Those Ood are being _tortured_. Don't you see what you're doing? What are you doing to their telepathic field?"

Riv shot up his hands defensively. "I didn't do anything. Controlling the Ood is _Maco__'s_ job. Maco! Where'd you run off to?"

A curly haired Barcelonan stumbled out of a tent. "I'm here, sir!"

"Maco, tell the Doctor what you've been doing to the Ood," Riv told him.

"Oh, um..." Maco fumbled with a tablet he was holding and slid his finger around on. "You see, Barcelonans have a low-level telepathic field, but we can still communicate easily without it. That's why we got Ood to work for us in the first place. We can hear them faintly. They were singing." He showed them all the tablet. It looked rather like what Emma had seen in hospitals where all the vital signs are showed. Squiggly lines were moving about and columns of dull colors bounced up and down on graphs. "We're monitoring - or _I'm_ monitoring - the frequency. Only a few minutes ago it shot off the charts."

"Then why are they suddenly violent?" Emma wondered.

"I swear we haven't been messing with them," Maco continued. "This has never happened before."

Emma looked to the Doctor. "Do you believe him?"

The Doctor thought for a moment, examining the tablet. "I believe him. But this means someone else is tampering with the telepathic field."

"Is it the other Barcelonans?" Phoebe suggested. "The girls, I mean. Or any of the other Separatists."

"No," said the Doctor. He turned away from the tablet and looked back at the Capital. "I think it's a human. Someone from our group."

Emma thought for a moment and then put the pieces together. "Louis."

Phoebe shook her head. "Louis wouldn't do this."

"You told me he didn't have interest in coming here, but he did anyway," Emma reminded her. "And you said he got into the wrong group. Who's to say he isn't the one doing this?"

"No, it can't be him."

"Who's Louis?" asked Maco.

"My boyfriend," Phoebe told him. "And we just need to find him. I'm sure he's just lost."

"Nah," said Riv. "He ain't lost. He's the bloke in the jacket, right? I saw him run off after we gassed the Cube Office."

Emma looked at Phoebe and sympathetically put a hand on the girl's arm. "I'm sorry, but I don't think Louis is innocent."

Phoebe looked close to tears. "Maybe he was just a coward."

The Doctor grasped Phoebe's upper arms gently and looked into her eyes with his own big, brown ones. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But it's possible that Louis is torturing the Ood in some way that's making them violent. He might not be the man you think he is."

After a few seconds, Phoebe squeezed her eyes shut and calmed down. "Okay," she said quietly, opening her eyes. "Let's find Louis."

The Doctor gave a her a smile. "That's the spirit! Alright then, you-" he pointed to Riv. "Don't you touch the people you took, understand? No wiping anyone's memories."

"What are you gonna do?" Riv asked. "Use your screwdriver on me?"

"No," said the Doctor. "But I will come back and if you wiped their memories, I'll wipe yours."

Riv lost his cocky attitude and tried to stand up straighter. "Fine, then. I'll just keep them all in a tent. Come on, Maco."

The two Barcelonans walked away and Phoebe turned to the Doctor.

"What d'you think you're doing?" she asked him frantically. "We should be asking them for help!"

The Doctor shook his head. "We don't need their help. What we need is you."

"M - me? Why me?"

"You can help us find Louis, right?" said Emma. "You know him better than us."

Phoebe shook her head dejectedly. "I don't think I know him anymore."

"Well," said the Doctor, "you still know him a lot better than we do. Maybe you can help us get in the right direction."

"Just the three of us, though? What about the Ood?"

"Trust me, I know how to handle Ood."

Phoebe finally nodded. "I - I'll try my best to help."

"Good. Everything's going to be fine, Phoebe. I promise. Alright, then! Let's go find us a Louis!"

* * *

The three set off towards the Capital not long after. The atrium was eerily quiet and Emma could clearly hear each step her boots made on the polished floor.

"If Louis was hiding," said Phoebe, "he would go some place no one would bother to look."

"But this place is huge," said Emma. "How are we going to know places where no one would look?"

"We think like Louis," replied the Doctor. He turned to Phoebe. "Would he have run far from the Cube Office?"

She shook her head. "He wouldn't risk getting lost."

"But there was no other place to go, right?" Emma though aloud, recalling the layout outside the Office. "It was just stairs. He couldn't have run past all the Separatists, could he?" She thought of an option, but it seemed a bit doubtful.

The Doctor glanced at Emma out of the corner of his eye. "Emma, are you thinking what I' thinking?"

She took a chance at her idea. "If you're thinking he never even left the Office, then yes. I'm thinking _exactly_ what you're thinking."

The Doctor grinned proudly. "I knew you were clever!"

Phoebe looked alarmed. "But the Ood's trapped in there with him!"

"If Louis' controlling the telepathic field, then he should be safe in there," the Doctor assured her. "We just have to get there before he does anymore damage."

The three then took off towards the Cube Office. Emma was breathing heavily once they arrived at the door. She really hoped the TARDIS had some sort of exercise room for she desperately needed to work out if she was going to spend her time running around with the Doctor, who seemed to have perfect cardio. At least Phoebe's breathing was ragged as well.

"Wait, don't we need a Separatist to open the door?" said Emma as they reached the Office.

The Doctor hit the side of his head with his screwdriver. "I'm getting old!"

"Don't worry," said a lazy voice behind them. Emma turned around with the others to find Riv and Maco coming up to them. Maco was tapping away at his tablet while Riv grudgingly looked at the Doctor. "You do need our help, believe it or not."

The Doctor smirked smugly (a bit too smugly, Emma noticed) and allowed the Barcelonans to open the door. There was a hissing noise as the steel went up and the room could be seen. Emma followed the Doctor closely as he held the screwdriver up like a shield and entered the room. The Ood, with regular coloured eyes, was standing behind the desk, staring down at the ground. The group moved from the door to behind the desk and followed the Ood's line of sight to see Louis scrunched down in the space underneath the desk. He smiled and waved.

"Hello, everyone," he said. "Weird seeing you all here."

"You bloody _idiot_!" Phoebe exclaimed. She reached down, grabbed him by the lapel of his jacket, and roughly pulled him out and to his feet. "You were there this whole time?"

Louis put his hands up defensively. "Well, sort of..."

"No, not sort of!" Phoebe was absolutely livid. Emma was completely rooting for her. "You were down here this whole time just doing what, exactly? Hiding? Did you hear everything I said?"

"Yes, but that's not the point!" He laughed. "I'm alive! Everything's good."

"No, not everything," said the Doctor. That storm was back in his eyes as he made eye contact with Louis. The young man didn't look frightened at all, even with Phoebe still clutching his jacket. "What have you been doing to the Ood?"

Louis scoffed. "I ain't doing anything! I don't even like the things. They're all tentacles and gross."

"He could be lying," said Emma.

"Oh, and what would you know?" Louis spat at her. He returned his attention to the Doctor. "And look at you! All tall and proud in your long coat and shit. Are you even a real doctor? Or are you one of those blokes who think they know everything because they read stuff on the Internet?"

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "Which one do _you_ think I am?"

"The second one."

"And why's that?"

"Because I'm clever!"

The Doctor sighed and put his hands on his hips. "Well, it's definitely not Louis controlling the Ood."

"What?" both Emma and Phoebe asked simultaneously.

"Trust me when I say he's not clever," the Doctor replied, walking away from them and towards the Ood.

"Am I supposed to be insulted?" Louis asked.

"Very," Emma answered. She then joined the Doctor with the Ood.

"D'you know who is doing this to you?" he asked the other alien.

The Ood clicked the ball. "I am a servant of President Bell."

"Of course," said the Doctor, "you're being told to say that if anyone asks any questions about your state." He turned to the rest of the group. "But the funny thing is, why wasn't the Ood attacking when we got here?"

"It stopped when you opened the door," said Louis. "He was going to kill me, but I was ready to stop him." He looked over at Phoebe for some sort of reaction, but instead she pointedly ignored him. Emma smiled to herself and cleared her throat to stifle the laughter.

"Which means," said the Doctor in his "I'm Catching Onto Something" voice, "that someone who just came into this room stopped the Ood from attacking. Someone who has control over them." He whirled and pointed a finger at Maco. "You've been doing this to the Ood, haven't you?"

Maco was frozen in his spot for a moment before taking off towards the door. Emma watched as Riv ran after him and tackled him to the ground whilst the other Barcelonan struggled.

"Gerroff me!" Maco cried under the pressure of Riv's body between his wings.

"I don't think so, mate," Riv replied. "Turn the Ood off now or I'll have to deal with you myself."

"Fine! Just get off!"

Riv reluctantly got to his feet and watched Maco closely as he did the same. As Maco worked on fixing the Ood, Emma leaned towards the Doctor.

"How did you know it was Maco?" she asked him.

The Doctor shrugged nonchalantly, but a smirk was present on his face. "It was just a lucky guess."

Emma couldn't stop the smile that broke out across her face and the two of them laughed together. She barely noticed the strange look Phoebe gave them and the disgusted glance Louis threw their way.

"Alright," said Maco sullenly, "they're all back to normal."

"You swear?" Riv asked.

Maco nodded. "I swear."

"Why?" asked Emma curiously. "Why do this to them?"

"They were feeding information about us to the President," said the Barcelonan. "I couldn't let them continue."

"So you tortured them?" asked the Doctor.

"I had to do it. I _had _to. There as no other option."

The Doctor was solemn. "There is always another option."

"What d'you suggest I do with him, Doctor," Riv asked, grabbing Maco roughly by his wings.

"What's the typical Barcelonan punishment?"

"Jail time. That's torture for us."

The Doctor nodded. "Do what you have to do."

Riv respectfully nodded back and dragged a very irate Maco out of the room who was yelling about wanting a lawyer.

"So what now?" asked Phoebe.

"We make sure the others get out okay," said the Doctor. "And then you go home."

* * *

Back at the camp, the Catkind family was released and had their memory intact (the Doctor informed Emma what the Separatists' plan had been). They quickly made their way towards the two of them.

"Oh, thank you for your help," said Liam. He put out a paw and the Doctor shook it the best he could before returning his hand to his pockets. "If you ever need help with anything, don't hesitate to find us."

"Will do," said the Doctor, smiling brightly.

"It was nice meeting you," Emma told them.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, too," said Alice, holding onto her children. "I hope we see each other again."

"The universe works in mysterious ways," the Doctor said vaguely.

This seemed to work well for the Catkind and they gave their final farewells before heading off to wherever their destination was. Next came the Hath. The Doctor managed to translate everything and get the message to Emma that they were thankful she helped save their lives and offered her Barcelonan currency.

"No, absolutely not," she said, pushing the Hath's hands towards them. "I did the right thing. I don't need payment for that."

The Hath tried again, but once she continued to decline, they got the message. They then gave their own goodbyes and left.

Then came Fillia, Selene, and Roe.

"Thanks for your help," said Fillia. "Hopefully the Barcelonans and the humans can work together peacefully now."

"I'm sure everything will work out in the future," the Doctor assured them. They then left as well.

"I suppose this means you'll be leaving then?"

Both Emma and the Doctor turned to see Riv walking towards them with Olivia, his hand clasped to her arm. She looked frightened.

"What are you going to do with her?" the Doctor asked with a tone of concern.

"I won't hurt you," Olivia pleaded to Riv. "I swear!"

Riv sighed. "I told you, we only want to speak with you diplomatically! Your uncle didn't have any relatives other than you. People liked him, so they'll like you, too. _And_ you're empathetic. If there's anyone who is going to help us, it's you."

"So...so you're not going to kill me?"

Riv scoffed. "Of course not! Maybe you'd know that if you had listened to me the first hundred times." He turned back to Emma and the Doctor. "We could always use your help if you want to stay."

"Nah," said the Doctor. He looked at Olivia. "I think you're all going to be fine."

Riv nodded. "Have it your way." He then swaggered off, no longer forcing Olivia along with him.

"Ready to leave?" the Doctor asked Emma.

"I suppose so," she answered. "Will we see more alien planets like this?"

He took her hand in his and they began to walk towards where they left the TARDIS. "Of course! We've got all of time and space, remember?"

Emma looked up at him and mimicked his smile.

"Wait!" she exclaimed suddenly. "I have to do something first."

She turned around and sprinted off towards the Capital building. Behind her the Doctor shouted, "Don't do anything - oh, never mind!"

She ran past the camp and up the stairs to find the that Phoebe was just leaving. The woman looked sad, of course, but she was making it through.

"Phoebe!" Emma said over the sound of everyone else talking. "I need to talk to you."

Phoebe turned to Emma and forced a smile, walking over to her. "Yes?"

"You know, you could come with us," said Emma. She wasn't entirely sure if the Doctor was okay with another traveler, but she figured he wouldn't mind.

"Inside your spaceship?" Phoebe asked, though she sounded skeptical.

"Yeah. I mean, you like seeing places where history happened. What better than having a trip through a time machine?"

Phoebe smiled, but shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I don't think that's for me."

Emma felt sadness from the rejection, but gave her best grin. "That's okay! I was just wondering if you wanted to."

"I'm grateful for your offer but...I think I've had enough adventure for a while. I'd prefer to be places where history already occurred. Hey, maybe one day I'll walk into an art museum and see a painting of you and the Doctor."

Emma laughed. "Wouldn't that be great." She then moved forward and hugged Phoebe tightly, the other quickly reciprocating.

"Be safe, Emma," Phoebe told her. She pulled back. "You know, you remind me of this woman I read about. She's called the Red Woman because her hair is rather like yours. It's said that she shows up in random points in time and space and saves people's lives." She looked a bit hopeful. "That's not you by any chance, is it?"

Emma shook her head. "No, I haven't really seen much of the universe yet. Trust me, it isn't me."

"Maybe one day." Phoebe sighed. "I better go and deal with Louis."

"Good luck with all of that," said Emma, cringing at the thought of what was to come for her. "I hope everything goes well for you."

"Thanks. You, too." Emma began to walk away, but then Phoebe added, "Oh, and Emma! Please give the Doctor a good snog."

Emma blanched. "W-what?"

This brought a genuine smile to Phoebe's face. "Don't be daft! You know what I mean!"

Emma wasn't sure what to feel about that, so she gave an awkward thumps up and one last wave before heading towards the TARDIS.

The Doctor stood outside it, leaning against the door with his hands stuffed in his pockets. He smiled once Emma came into view.

"Everything settled?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she answered. She looked at his lips for a moment and then looked quickly away. "Everything's good."

They entered the TARDIS; the Doctor closed the door behind them. Everything was just as they left it, including Emma's coat and bag still sitting on the jump seat.

"I suppose you'll need a place to put your things," mused the Doctor, walking ahead of her towards the console. He had one of those clever faces on. "I wonder what we're gonna do about that?"

Emma raised her eyebrows curiously. "And do you have anything in mind?"

"Oh, I dunno." He turned and pointed towards the entrance to a hall that lead down to God knows where. If this place was bigger on the inside, who knows how many rooms there actually were. "Perhaps there's something for you down there?"

There was a small grin playing on his face like he knew something she didn't. It made her go faster as she grabbed her things and nearly ran down the hall.

She wasn't surprised to find the walls continued with the hexagonal pattern, but the floor - instead of being grated - was simply made of the same material as the coral supports. As she slowed down, she found that one of the doors on the left side was open. She slowly peered inside and realized with absolutely no doubt that this was her room.

The whole thing was exactly like her room at home. Okay, so maybe not exactly; instead of whitewashed walls, they were painted a light purple and the bed had a matching duvet. It was her absolute favorite colour. There was no window, but her desk was there and so was all her pictures and posters hanging on the walls. This room even seemed bigger than the original one.

"What d'you think?" the Doctor asked. She hasn't even noticed him come up next to her with that smug look on his face.

"It's just like my room," she replied. She really didn't know what else to say so she quickly added, "Thank you."

"Oh, it was all the TARDIS." He patted the wall tenderly. "You're so brilliant, aren't you, girl?"

Emma walked inside the room and threw her bag on the bed. It felt as if she had just wandered into her own room back home. It made her think about her parents and how worried they probably were about her sudden departure, but she pushed the guilt aside. She had her own bedroom on a spaceship time machine. It was literally the coolest thing in her opinion.

"You should probably get some sleep," said the Doctor as he stood in the doorway. "If you need anything just ask the TARDIS for the way. I'll be in the console room."

Emma turned back to him and moved forward, wrapping her arms around his middle (God, he was tall) and let her head fall on his chest where she could hear the heartbeats of his hearts. He quickly reciprocated.

"Thank you," she repeated, pulling back. "Not just for the room, but for everything."

"It's not a problem!" he exclaimed. "Anything for my new traveler." He then gave her a big grin and went out the door, leaving her alone.

And the first thing she did was close the door and fall asleep on the exact replica of her own bed.

* * *

**Two weeks earlier**

**Capital of Barcelona**

President Harrison Bell sat at his desk in the Cube Office, one hand holding a phone to his ear and the other pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"Listen, Admiral, I understand that we have had our differences with the Barcelonans, but this is a call to war!"

The Admiral spoke on the other end, arguing in favor of fighting against the indigenous race of the planet.

"I don't have time for this right now," said Bell, hanging up the phone and running his hands over his face. When he removed them, the door to his office opened and a man dressed in a well tailored suit strode inside.

"Mr. President," he said, "I need to speak with you."

"I'm a bit busy right now," said Bell tiredly. "Come back in a few hours."

"This is important."

Bell sighed. "I understand that, but we're on the brink of war right now. I have to do my job."

When Bell looked back up at the man, his jaw unhinged and dropped. He watched as something extended from the man's forehead like Pinocchio's nose when he lied.

"What are you?" asked Bell, horrified.

There was no answer. Instead, a blinding light filled the room. Both Bell and the man were gone.

"HAR-RI-SON BELL HAS BEEN AC-QUI-RED."

* * *

**Next Time:**

**The Pharaohs of Old**

**When the Doctor and Emma accidentally wind up in Ancient Egypt, the two hear rumors that the dead are coming back to life and attacking the living. Meanwhile, a cult seems to be very interested in Emma.**

* * *

_Thanks so much for the feedback guys! _


	7. Are You My Mummy?

**Chapter Seven**

**The Pharaohs of Old**

**Are You My Mummy?**

A young man with a shaved head ran through various corridors, his bare feet slapping against the limestone floor. He held in his hands a large book bound with gold. On it was different symbols ranging from a bird to an eye. He grasped it tightly as if his life depended on it as he raced to his destination.

Once he finally came into the room, he stood at the door, looking upon the seven men sitting on red cushions in the form of a circle. Most of them wore black wigs; the fake hair adorned with beautiful jewels that were shining brightly as they reflected the flames that burned in the center. The rest of the men had shaved heads that reflected the fire just as well. Each one was dressed in tunics and skirts, their feet barefoot just like the book-holding young man. They all sat cross-legged in their places; their eyes closed and their hands clasped in a silent prayer. There was one empty spot at the head of the circle where The Lady was supposed to be. However, it seemed she was late this day.

"Hasani," said the young man, looking towards another that looked similar to him, but a few years older. "Brother, I found it."

Hasani looked up from his praying, meeting his brother's gaze. His eyes then fell on the book. In an instant, he was up and leaving the circle to approach the young man.

"Kafele," said Hasani, "is this truly the one?"

Kafele nodded eagerly, handing it over. He watched anxiously as Hasani opened it and turned the pages, looking over all the symbols until his found what he was looking for.

"The healer in the blue box," Hasani mused, running his hands over the parchment. "At last we find you."

The sound of doors opening on the other side of the room took their attention away from the book. They looked past the circle of men and the many small fires in the nearly empty room to see The Lady come inside. Her hair, still natural, was pure white and contrasted deeply with her dark skin. She wobbled into the room and slowly lowered herself into her cushion. The many bracelets and bangles on her arms clinked and clashed as she put her hands together - palm to palm.

"It is starting," said Hasani. He closed the book and looked to his brother. "Will you join us?"

Kalefe was hesitant. "I do not believe I am ready yet, brother." He eyed the growing fire warily and attempted to block out the chant the circle was speaking.

"The Cult of Osiris calls to you, Kalefe," Hasani told him. "You will be among us in time. Until then, you are free to leave."

Hasani didn't wait for Kalefe to leave before he took the book to the fire. As Kalefe watched, he opened the book back to the page with healer and his blue box and ripped it out with a loud tearing noise. It made Kalefe jump. Hasani then threw the page in the fire where the flames hungrily gobbled it up. The fire grew larger and the heat became nearly unbearable. Kalefe was forced to back up to the entrance, and even then he was sweating profusely.

Hasani kneeled down next to the fire, looking like he was in pain. He put his hands together like the others and squeezed his eyes shut.

"O gods!" he exclaimed. "Bring us the box!"

"Bring us the box," the others chanted.

"We pray that you provide us with the necessary vessel for such a blessed task. Bring us the box!"

"Bring us the box."

The fire began to move, swirling around and twisting like rope. It formed together like pieces of a puzzle until it became the box itself in flame form.

"Bring us the box."

"We ask for this one thing," Hasani continued. "Bring us the box and bring me my wife!"

* * *

"Am I 60's enough for you?"

Emma walked into the console room wearing a short, sleeveless, green and blue checkered dress with her knee high boots. She spun around as the Doctor looked up from the console, a grin on his face.

"You look perfect!" he exclaimed.

Emma stopped spinning and was strangely touched. Heat flushed her cheeks and she shyly looked at the grated floor. She was thankful that the Doctor didn't seem to notice her sudden awkward actions and instead was pushing buttons and running around the console. He was back to his brown suit, but no longer wore his overcoat. He must have changed whilst she had. It was after he told her they were taking a break in the 1960's to see a Beatles concert and asked her to change into something that resembled the time that the TARDIS had been gracious enough to show Emma the way to a closet-like room and pick out an outfit from whole rack full of clothes from the 60's.

"Though I think it needs one more thing," said the Doctor, grabbing something off the jump seat. He handed it to her and she noticed it was a thick, black headband.

"So...do you just have headbands laying around or something?" she asked him skeptically.

The Doctor shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. "It was a friend's. Thought you could use it."

Although her heart twisted in her chest as she realized this was practically a sloppy second, there was no way Emma could decline the headband in her hands as the Doctor looked at her with those big brown eyes. And so she easily slid it onto her head, pushing back her cherry hair with it. She saw him smile happily with approval and all uncertainty inside her disappeared. Instead she grinned back and leaned against the railing.

"To the Beatles!" He exclaimed, pushing some more buttons.

It was then that Emma had to hold onto the railing for dear life as the TARDIS began to shake violently. Either the Doctor was doing this on purpose for fun or he was simply insane due to his laughter that was heard over the noise of the TARDIS' displeasure. Emma held back a scream as she closed her eyes tight and prayed they would just land. She held onto her shoulder bag tightly.

They finally did and the Doctor threw Emma a mischievous smirk as they both quickly walked down to the door and out into the 19-

Okay, this was definitely not the 1960's.

They were standing in some type of village with buildings and ground made with sandstone. Colorful tarps over from the two of them, which was certainly nice considering how hot it was. People were bustling about everywhere. Men were wearing short skirts and tunics, women were wearing long dresses that went down to their ankles and wore black kohl around their eyes. Everyone had dark hair and tan skin, were adorned with various pieces of gold jewelry, and some had sandals made from what looked like papyrus on their feet. It all looked oddly familiar.

Emma suddenly gasped as it dawned on her. "Are we in Ancient Egypt?" she asked the Doctor excitedly. "Please tell me we're in Ancient Egypt!"

"We're in Ancient Egypt," he replied, eyebrows squished together. "Whoops. Wait-" he looked down at her "-do you want to here?"

Emma found herself lightly jumping up and down and put her hands over her mouth as she smiled. "I've always dreamed of coming here! My grandad was an Egyptologist, you see. He would always bring all these amazing things back from Cairo. He took Gran a few times; she absolutely loved it. They told me all about it. Mum had to let them because it was history but she wasn't fond of all the legends. She likes fact."

"She's a smart one, your mum," said the Doctor. "Well, instead of the Beatles, how 'bout a trip around an Egyptian village?"

"Oh, I'd love it!"

They shared a smile and automatically grabbed each others hands as they walked away from the TARDIS.

With a sudden thought, Emma stopped. "Wait, won't we look a bit out of place? I mean, we don't look Egyptian."

The Doctor shrugged nonchalantly. "We'll be fine. I've been here loads of times."

Emma gaped at him. "Won't they recognize you?"

"Ancient Egypt was a long time period! You should know that."

"But you're - y'know - an alien and everything. People would remember that kind of thing."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I was a different man back then."

Emma accepted this answer and she walked forward a bit. She took in the whole atmosphere and how people were bustling about. Seeing the future had been one thing, but this - this was incredible. When she was born, all these people were already dead. These ordinary people going about their daily lives were dead by the time she was born. She looked around and saw children running around and she knew the names of these children would be forgotten over the coming years. It would be like they never existed.

A sudden overwhelming feeling of sadness overtook her. She stood in one place whilst the Doctor continued to walk forward with his hands in his pockets, going on about some alien life form that had inhabited Ramses I. She saw him stop in front of her and glance back with concern quickly flooding his face.

"Emma?" he asked. "Is something wrong?"

She waited until he came closer to her before she answered. "These people are dead."

He shook his head and looked around. "No they're not! Look, they're all breathing, living people."

"No, where I come from, they're all dead. Their lives are practically meaningless."

The Doctor looked her straight in the eyes. "They mean something now."

"But in several hundred years, no one is going to know about the people over there." She pointed to a group of girls talking about the beads in their hair. "They're on this planet for what reason? To be forgotten?"

"Does that bother you?"

She found his answer irritating. "Yes, of course it does!"

"And why's that?"

"Because - because what if my life is meaningless?" It felt a bit silly to say this out loud, but it was relieving to get it out. The idea that she had no true purpose was now plaguing her. The people she met so far - what if they were living pointless lives, too? "I mean, what if I never have a lasting impression? What if everyone forgets me?"

"Answer me this," said the Doctor, "what do you want to be? I mean, what do you want to do for the rest of your life? And think realistically."

She took that as his way of saying she couldn't possibly travel with him forever. "I want to be an author."

"Alright then. And your idea for a book had to do with France, yes?"

Emma nodded.

"Tell me what it's about."

"My idea?" She watched him nod. "Um, well, my dad had this dream once that he told me about. It sounds a bit silly, but, he met Madam de Pompadour in his dream. I dunno why, though. It was just a completely random dream. But in it she told him about this man. She called him her lonely angel or something like that. He saved her life and she waited for him. I dunno what happened after that. But the man, he was from a different time or something. Like, he didn't belong in France. I was hoping to take that idea and make something out of it."

The Doctor was staring at her oddly when she finished. His eyes were squinted and his body was leaning away from her slightly. His eyebrows were squished together like he was in deep thought.

"What's your dad's name?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"William Scott," Emma answered slowly. "What does that have to do with anything?"

The Doctor was now looking up towards the sky, deep in thought. "It's just...interesting."

Emma raised her eyebrows. "My dad's name?"

He shook his head. "No, it's...just forget about it. So!" His voice was now much louder and she jumped slightly in surprise. "What d'you want to do first?"

She easily recognized that he changed the subject, but felt it would be rude to push him further. Instead, she went right along with it. "Can we go shopping or something?"

"Of course! I know this vendor not too far from here. Oh, you'll love the stuff there, I just know it."

They smiled at each other and Emma took his hand as he lead her through the bustling streets of an Ancient Egyptian village. The thought made her giddy. When she looked over her shoulder, however, she could see an old woman peeking around the corner of a shop, staring straight at them.

* * *

Kalefe felt immense confusion and worry as he walked home. His heart was still racing slightly and his hand shook weakly. What Hasani did in the Cult was none of Kalefe's business, but it still scared him nonetheless. He hadn't been able to look at the book much, though. He wondered why Hasani would want a book that spoke of some sort of magical healer - they already had enough healers in the village. And healers certainly didn't live in boxes. He could still remember watching the fire that sat in the center and watch as some sort of rectangular shape formed in the flames. Perhaps that was the box the healer lived in?

The young Egyptian kicked a stone with his barefoot as he walked along through the market. People stayed out of his way, knowing that his older brother was Hasani, the leader of the Cult of Osiris. No one would dare mess with someone connected to such a group.

"What is that?" said a voice nearby.

Curiosity rising, Kalefe looked up from the ground and his eyes landed on a strange sight.

It was the box from the fire.

Several people had noticed it now and were questioning why it was there, though no one dared to go near it. Could the healer be inside?

Kalefe did not hesitate. He ran up to the box and pulled on the handles, only to find it would not budge. He groaned with frustration. Perhaps he should tell Hasani he spotted the box?

No. That would be a bad idea. But then again, if Hasani found out that Kalefe had seen the box, there would be hell to pay. So Kalefe decided he would wait. If fate was kind to him, he would find the healer, the magic healer, and everything would work out. And so he set off for home, praying to the gods that for once, everything would go his way.

* * *

Emma followed the Doctor through the village, marveling at everything it had to offer. It was like being in some sort of dream, looking at the beautiful structures and regular people passing by. He lead her into a market where tarps were set over rows of goods to buy. He took her to a specific vendor like he said he would. It was a woman with slightly wrinkled skin and a wig of short black hair. She wore a long, white gown made of thin material. Several golden bracelets covered her arms. She stood by a long, stone table which held the products she was selling. They were all beautiful objects encrusted with reflective jewels. Some were jewelry and some were things for decoration.

"Hello, Dani," said the Doctor.

The woman turned towards them, but her eyes stared out straight ahead of her.

"Doctor," she said with a small smile, "your voice is different again."

"Still the same man, though," he answered.

"Of course you are. May I?"

She reached out her hands towards him and he stepped forward to take them. He placed them on his face and Emma watched curiously (and slightly confusedly) as the woman Dani gently felt his face.

She laughed. "You get younger every time, Doctor."

He grinned. "And you're still as beautiful as ever."

"Oh, stop." She waved a hand at him. "And the woman with you - she is new."

Emma wasn't sure if she was supposed to be offended or not. What did she mean "new?"

"My name's-"

"Emma Scott," Dani finished. "It is a pleasure to meet you. What time is it?"

Emma frowned. "I - I don't know. I don't have a watch."

"Of course not!" exclaimed Dani. "They haven't been invented yet."

Emma glanced over at the Doctor who just looked amused.

"Do not be frightened," Dani said. "I can see the future, is all. I am nothing to be afraid of."

"Who says I'm afraid?"

"Your heart."

Emma bit her bottom lip. This woman was definitely an odd one.

"Take a look around," said Dani. "Any friend of the Doctor's is a friend of mine."

With slight reluctance, Emma nodded and realized that Dani couldn't see her. The Egyptian was blind.

Suddenly unsure what to do, Emma fumbled with her hands a bit. "Um, thank you." She looked pleadingly towards the Doctor for a sign of what she should do, but instead he was distracted by the chimes that were hanging nearby. Taking this as a sign, Emma went to look around at the objects that Dani was selling.

"These are all very beautiful," Emma commented, lifting up a headrest. She recognized it from all the books Granddad Fred had showed her.

"Thank you," answered Dani. She reached out and managed to grab a small mirror that was laying on the counter. "I knew you would be coming, so I crafted this."

Emma took the mirror in her hand and turned it over, looking at the design on the back. She tilted her head curiously. It was words, for some reason. Words written on the back of a mirror. They read: "There is only room for one."

"I've heard this before," Emma mumbled. She turned to Dani. She thought of the Ood from the Cube Office. _There is only room for one_. "What does this mean?"

Dani smiled slyly. "So you _can_ read it." She curled Emma's fingers over the mirror and spoke softly. "You keep this, Emma Scott. One day you'll understand."

"But I want to understand now," said Emma.

Dani shook her head. "Now is too early, I am afraid. I am very sorry." She raised her hands. "May I?"

Emma nodded, but then remembered Dani couldn't see it, so she spoke. "Okay."

Dani's hands went gently onto Emma's face. She slowly felt it like she was tracing the face of a statue. Emma closed her eyes and suddenly felt overwhelming comfortable.

"So young," said Dani quietly. "So much to come."

Emma's eyes shot open. "What does that mean?"

"Be brave, Emma." Dani removed her hands. "Be very brave."

Before Emma could ask what she meant, the Doctor wandered over to the two of them, his hands in his pockets.

"Need any money?" he asked, looking at Emma.

"She may have anything she likes," replied Dani.

"Oh, come on!" exclaimed the Doctor. "I still have some money from the last time I was here."

Dani smiled. "I do not need money, Doctor. Please, take whatever your hearts desire."

Emma didn't notice when the Doctor sighed and turned towards her. She was too occupied with the mirror. The jewels encrusted in the gold sparkled against the sun's rays. Realizing she was being stared at, she finally looked up to see both the Doctor and Dani waiting on her.

"Oh," she said. "I'm sorry. Um, I think I'm good with this." She waved the mirror around.

"A good choice," Dani replied. "Use it wisely."

Emma would have asked why she needed to use a mirror wisely, but decided against it. Part of her didn't even want to know.

"Do not go getting into too much trouble," Dani told the Doctor as he leaned down to hug her.

"Oh, you know me," he answered, his smile in his voice, "I stay as far away from trouble as possible."

As Dani laughed, Emma looked around them and noticed that in the throng of people walking by, an old woman stood completely still. Her eyes were fixed on Emma and the Doctor. Emma wasn't sure what worried her the most; the fact that there were no wrinkly, old people in Ancient Egypt or that this was the woman that had been watching them as they left the TARDIS.

"What was that, dear?" asked Dani.

It took Emma moment to realize she was the one being addressed. "I didn't say anything." She kept her eyes on the old lady.

"You said 'I remember you.'"

Perhaps she had spoken her thoughts aloud by accident? Possibly. But she was sure she had said nothing.

"I didn't say that," Emma answered.

"I suppose you forgot, again."

If Emma had not been so worried about the old woman watching them, she would have asked what she forgot. But instead, she approached the Doctor and pointed to the old woman.

"I think she's been following us," she told him.

The Doctor looked around the crowd until he finally saw the woman as well. Once he did, though, she turned around and walked away.

"I think you're right," he said, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Do you think we should go after her?" Emma asked.

He shrugged. "I dunno. It might be dangerous." Despite the ominous words, he looked down at her and smiled. Emma didn't hesitate to smile back. "It was nice to see you, Dani."

She smiled. "I wish I could say the same."

"Oh, right, sorry." The Doctor frowned. "Not a good choice of words."

"It is quite alright, Doctor. Emma?"

Emma turned to her. "Yeah?"

Dani leaned in close, whispering in Emma's ear. "What time is it?"

Emma pulled back quickly. Hadn't Dani already asked that? "Why do you want to know?"

"Emma!" called the Doctor. He had wandered off a bit, probably so as not to lose sight of the woman.

"Coming!" Emma replied. She gave one last look at Dani, who was staring forward blankly. Shaking her head, Emma ran off and caught up with the Doctor.

"What d'you think this means?" she asked him, showing him the back of the mirror.

His eyebrows shot up as he ran a thumb over the engravings. "It says 'There is only room for one.'"

"Yeah, I know that. But why?"

The Doctor glanced over at her oddly. "You can read that?"

Emma raised her own eyebrows now. "Of course I can. It's in English." She frowned. "Speaking of English, why was Dani talking in it? English didn't exist in Ancient Egypt."

"Oh, that's the TARDIS," the Doctor answered. "It's translating everything for you."

"Wait, so, that means I was speaking another language?"

"Precisely."

Emma laughed happily. "That is so cool! Was it doing that on Barcelona?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Probably." He eyed the mirror again. "But this shouldn't be translated."

Emma frowned. "Why not?"

The Doctor didn't answer. Instead, he looked up an caught sight of something. Emma followed his gaze and saw the old woman standing in front of a small building. She quickly opened the door and went inside once she saw that she had their attention.

"D'you think that's her home?" Emma took the mirror back as the Doctor handed it to her. She placed it in her bag.

"Let's hope so," said the Doctor. He grabbed her hand and they weaved through the crowd to reach the door. The Doctor raised a fist and knocked four times.

They waited for a few seconds before the door opened and a young man with a shaved head stood before them. He wore several gold necklaces and bracelets that jingled when he moved.

"Hi!" said the Doctor enthusiastically whilst Emma smiled kindly.

The man looked back and forth between them. "Hello."

"We're looking for an old woman," said Emma. "She walked into here."

"Are you looking for gran?" he asked.

Emma shared a look with the Doctor.

"Yes, we are," said the Time Lord. "Can we speak with her?"

The man raised an eyebrow. "Who are you, exactly?"

"I'm the Doctor and this is Emma."

Emma wiggled her fingers.

Somehow, the answer the Doctor gave seemed to trigger something in the young man. His eyes widened and backed up to let them through. "Please, come in."

The Doctor walked in first with Emma following. She noticed that the man was staring at her now, making her feel slightly uncomfortable. To avoid the feeling, she focused on looking around. The house was small with arched entrances into each room. The place was silent except for the young man closing the door.

"My name is Kalefe," he told them. "The Lady is my grandmother. I will take you to her."

"Lead the way, Kalefe," said the Doctor.

Kalefe took them to the back of the house. The far corner of the farthest room, the old woman sat on a large, red cushion. She sat up with her back ramrod straight and stared at them as they entered.

"Grandmother," said Kalefe, "you have guests."

She didn't respond. Instead she patted the two cushions that sat in front of her.

"She wants you to sit with her," Kalefe told them.

Emma looked to the Doctor and saw him think about it for as second before nodding. "Alright, then."

Kalefe bowed to them - or really just Emma - before exiting the room, his feet slapping against the limestone floor. Turning back to the old woman, Emma followed the Doctor's movements as they both sat down on the empty cushions. They were surprisingly comfortable.

"If you don't mind me asking," said the Doctor, "how old are you?"

The Lady stared forward, just like Dani. "You are one to talk, Time Lord."

The Doctor smiled. "Oh, you're another one, aren't you?"

"It is not hard to figure out."

"I'm a bit lost," said Emma, her brow furrowing. "Who are you?"

"I am a former member of the Cult of Osiris," she said. "However, I still aid them from time to time."

"A cult of the god of the underworld?" Emma asked. "How come I've never heard of it?"

The Lady leaned forward. "Because it is secret."

"That would explain it," said the Doctor. "Does that have to do with why you were following us."

"Yes, magic healer. There is trouble about and we need your help."

The Doctor sat forward. "What's wrong?"

"The dead have been coming back to life."

Emma stifled a gasp. Zombies? Zombies in Ancient Egypt? She nearly slapped herself. Of course it wasn't zombies! This was Ancient Egypt! They weren't zombies; they were mummies. But then again, mummies are technically zombies that are simply wrapped up and probably don't have a taste for flesh. Either way, it was still the dead coming back to life and that was enough to worry anyone.

"What can we do to help?" she asked the Lady.

"You need to stop the Cult. They wish to rule the underworld and the living."

That explained the whole Osiris part. Nevertheless, it still worried Emma greatly.

"Are they the ones resurrecting the dead?" asked the Doctor.

The Lady nodded. "I am unaware of how, but they say that Osiris is providing them with the power."

Emma looked to the Doctor. "Is that even possible?"

The Doctor was deep in thought, his eyebrows scrunched together. "I'm not sure. How did you leave the Cult?"

The Lady pointed to her eyes. "I had to damage myself. I looked into the pit and it ruined me. I see everything but what is around me."

"What's the pit?" Emma asked.

"It resides in the gathering room of the Cult. It is used for rituals and is said to be direct communication with the gods."

"And looking into the pit causes you to see the future?" asked the Doctor.

The Lady nodded. "Not just the future, magic healer. The past. The present. All there ever is and ever was. They say if we are not born with the proper blood, the power of the pit will destroy us."

"So you would have rather die than be in the Cult?"

"Yes." She sounded sad. "There are many others who have done this, too" Emma thought of Dani. She had to be one of them. "We do not always agree with the goals of the Cult. However, I have no choice but to help them when they need it."

"Why?" wondered Emma.

"Because my grandson is the leader."

"Kalefe?" said the Doctor.

"No. His brother, Hasani. Hasani is not to be trusted. He believes he is the vessel for Osiris and that, if he makes the proper sacrifice, he will fulfill his duty and the god will take him."

"That would explain the mummies." The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up in all sorts of directions. "Have they been...attacking anyone?

"Yes. They come from the nearby tomb of Jumimah. He watched over this village avidly and was highly respected among our people. His family was buried with him along with several other villagers. When some of his descendants went to his tomb, they found it opened and the dead attacked and killed them."

Emma shared another look with the Doctor that read, "Yeah. Following this woman was definitely dangerous."

The Doctor spoke up next. "Where can we find this Cult of Osiris?"

* * *

It was after Kalefe let in the Doctor and Emma that he took off to the Cult's gathering room. He ran as fast as he could, knowing that the Lady was likely to give away what they were planning. If he could get to Hasani in time, they could use this to their advantage.

When he ran into the room, all the members looked up from where they sat on their cushions, facing the pit.

"Brother?" said Hasani, standing up in his spot. "What is the meaning of your disruption?"

"The healer," said Kalefe, "he is here. The vessel is with him. I saw their box and then they came to our door. They wished to speak with grandmother."

Hasani approached him. "Did you let them in?"

"Yes," Kalefe nodded. "I fear that grandmother will tell them of our plans."

"Of course she will, brother! Have you no sense?"

"I do, brother." Hasani eyed him curiously. "I will lead them to the tomb. You will awaken the dead. If the book is right, then the healer and the vessel will try to help them. We can lure the vessel to the throne and trap her. You will have your Queen, brother. I am certain."

Hasani rubbed his chin. "I do believe this might work." He put his hands on Kalefe's shoulders. "Do not fail me."

Kalefe shook his head. "I will not."

"Good. Do your job and I will do mine."

* * *

"So we try to go to a Beatles concert and end up dealing with mummies in Ancient Egypt. My family is _never_ going to believe this."

Emma and the Doctor stood in an empty corridor which supposedly lead to the gathering room for the Cult. They had knocked on the door and a voice on the other side told them to wait a moment. Several moments had gone by, and Emma leaned against the wall while the Doctor paced, his hands deep in his pockets.

"Well," added Emma, "that is if we fix this all and come out alive." She frowned. "What if we die in an Egyptian tomb? Would they find our bones in the future? Oh God, I'd never be able to say goodbye to my mum. She's probably worried sick. I did sort of take off without much of an explanation."

"We're not going to die," said the Doctor. He paused. "Well, we _probably _won't die. Well-"

"You should _probably_ stop talking."

"Right." He put out a hand. "Give me your phone."

Emma raised her eyebrows. "Why?"

"So I can do you a favor."

Still skeptical, she reached into her bag and pulled out her mobile. She handed it to the Doctor who took out his screwdriver and pointed it at the phone. The device whirred and then he handed the phone back to her. "All done," he said.

She flipped it over in her hand and turned on the backlight. "What did you do to it?"

"I fixed it. Well, technically I enhanced it." He pointed the screwdriver toward the phone before putting it in his coat. "That phone can now call any number in any time or on any planet."

Emma's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"If you don't believe me then go on! Try it!"

Although she believed him, she still dialed Natalie's mobile number and placed the phone at her ear, waiting.

"Hello?" came Natalie's voice.

Emma leaned the phone away from her ear and pointed to it, mouthing "It's my mum!"

The Doctor mouthed, "You're welcome!" He grinned.

"Hello?" Natalie repeated, sounded more annoyed this time.

"Mum?" said Emma quickly, putting the phone back by her ear. "Mum, it's me."

There was a sigh of relief. "Oh, Emma, it's so good to hear from you. But never mind that now, what the hell were you thinking? Why would you run off like that?"

"I dunno, I guess I had some sort of epiphany?"

"An epiphany to run off into the blue, leaving your family worried sick? Where are you? When are you coming back?"

"I told you, I'll be back for Abigail's wedding. And I'm - well, I'll tell you where I am when I get back. I promise I'll tell you everything."

Natalie's voice got soft. "Are you being held hostage."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Mum, if I was being held hostage, would I be able to use my phone? And wouldn't I _tell_ you I'm being held hostage."

"Oi, there's no need for attitude. If anything, you should be apologizing."

Emma sighed. "I know. I'm sorry, mum. By the way, what day is it?"

"What day is it? Don't you know?"

"I've been - er - kind of out of time recently."

"If you must know, it is two days before Abigail's wedding which means it's been over a week since you took off. In that time I've had to hire all sorts of help for the shop."

"To be honest, you should have had more people working there anyway."

"Hush, you."

The door to the gathering room slowly creaked open.

"I'm sorry, mum, but I've gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? You're coming back tomorrow?"

"Yes, I promise. I've got to hang up now. I love you."

"I love you, too. Be careful."

"I always am."

Emma hung up first and quickly discarded the phone into her bag just as Kalefe came out of the room. She looked to the Doctor to find him sharing the same suspicious look.

"Where's your brother?" asked the Doctor.

"Hasani?" replied Kalefe. "He is not here at the moment." His eyes darted between the Doctor and Emma. "And why are you both here? Were you not speaking with the Lady."

"We were," said Emma. "But she told us that your brother was in charge of the Cult."

He lost some of the colour in his cheeks. "He is. I was - I was just speaking with him, is all."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "Is there something you'd like to tell us?"

Kalefe shook his head. He paused. "Actually, yes. I know my grandmother has told you about the dead living once more. Is there any chance that you can help us with this tragedy?"

"Of course," Emma answered immediately. "Can you show us to the tomb?"

He nodded eagerly. "Yes, yes I can! Follow me." Without waiting, he swiftly walked past them and towards the exit of the building.

"Do we trust him?" Emma asked the Doctor.

"I'd say no," he answered. "Stay close."

"No arguing there."

And so Emma grabbed the Doctor's hand as they made their way to follow Kalefe.

* * *

They walked quite a ways out of the village. In the distance, Emma could see the pyramid above the tomb standing proud. She was in complete awe from its size. Granted she knew the pyramids were big, but she had never thought she would get to see one in person.

"It's beautiful," she said as they walked through the sand toward the structure.

"It took quite a long time to build," Kalefe told them.

"It's a shame it was done by slaves," said the Doctor.

Kalefe eventually came to a stop. They weren't near the pyramid, but they were close enough to get a good look at it. Emma put a hand over her eyes to block out the sun as Kalefe bent down and started pushing sand away. She looked down and saw that underneath there was limestone.

"Secret entrance?" she asked.

"We have to have a way to get around the dead in case they rise," said Kalefe. The Doctor helped him moved the chunk of limestone that served as the door. Underneath that was a set of stairs.

"Down into the creepy underground tomb where mummies are attacking people?" Emma muttered to herself. "Sounds like a perfect idea."

"You wanted to help," teased the Doctor.

Emma sighed. "I know. It just sounds like the formula for a trap."

Kalefe cleared his throat loudly. "I will go down first." He descended the stairs with Emma following and the Doctor going down last, leaving the entrance open. Small streams of sand fell down through the hole.

Emma found herself speechless. All around them, all over the walls and the ceiling, was drawings and hieroglyphics. It was all new and fresh, probably a hundred years old at the most. She recalled the pictures of the tombs her grandfather had seen; how there were cracks in the walls and how some of them had been raided many years prior. But this - this was the tomb in its youth.

"This is incredible," she finally managed to say, moving to a wall to run her hands over it. Ancient Egyptians had painted these figures. She was touching something that would probably never be found again for thousands of years. Alien planets and the future was great, but this was so much more than that. Museums could never capture the beauty before her.

"It is average," said Kalefe, taking an already lit torch out of its sconce. "Follow me."

As he went down a corridor, the Doctor took out his screwdriver and approached Emma. "Amazing, huh?"

She smiled at him. Her vision was slightly blurred and her eyes were watery. "We're in an Ancient Egyptian tomb."

"I know!" He seemed just as excited as her. "Too bad there's mummies trying to kill people, though."

It should have made her more somber, but instead she just got more excited. Adrenaline was starting to pump through her veins again. Suddenly she was really glad they didn't get to the Beatles concert.

As they went down the corridor, the Doctor pointed his screwdriver here and there. It buzzed and whirred and occasionally he would check it. Judging by his "hmm"s, there was probably something interesting going on, but not dangerous enough to make him talk about it. But Emma didn't mind. She was still far too mesmerized by the artwork inside the tomb.

"In here!" called Kalefe from the end of the hall.

Emma and the Doctor caught up with him only to find themselves in a large room. There was a dim light from the already lit torches, something that seemed suspicious. Emma frowned as she realized that there was an open sarcophagus on a table in the center. Come to mention it, she noticed that there were several laying about the room.

And they were all open.

"Kalefe-"

Emma stopped when she realized that Kalefe was gone.

"Doctor, he's gone," she said worriedly.

"I know," he answered. "Something seems off."

"Other than the open sarcophagi, the already lit torches, and Kalefe taking off on us?"

"Actually, yes. Other than that." He raised he screwdriver and walked toward the center of the room as Emma moved closer to a nearby sarcophagus. "These people aren't dead."

She looked inside. Laying there was a person, completely mummified. This wasn't as amazing as the tomb's artwork. In fact, it was terrifying.

"They look pretty dead to me," she said as she moved to another one, taking a peek inside.

"It's like they're just unconscious." Emma looked over and saw him reach inside the sarcophagus.

"Doctor!" she scolded, hurrying over. "What if it grabs you?"

"It's not awake. Look-" He grabbed the mummy's hand and waved it at Emma, grinning like a little boy. "Are you my mummy?"

Emma rolled her eyes and walked away, looking at some of the objects that lay next to the sarcophagi. There wasn't much, but there was some jewelry here and there as well as some canopic jars, four to each mummy.

"This just seems so odd though," she though aloud. "The torches are already lit, the sarcophagi are already open, Kalefe lead us down here willingly and then left. Doctor, this is a trap."

"I know," he answered. "And I think I know how we got here, too."

Emma paused. "Wait, you know this is a trap."

"Well, it's a bit obvious to tell you the truth."

"And you just let us walk into it?"

"We aren't going to find out why they want us unless we let them think they trapped us, and - if my theory is correct - we'll be fine."

As if on cue, there was a collective, guttural groan. Slowly, each mummy sat up in their sarcophagus and turned their heads toward Emma and the Doctor. Emma stepped backward as the mummies moved their arms away from their chests and to the edges of the sarcophagi. They pulled themselves up and swung their legs over, climbing out with ease.

"Should we run?" Emma asked as they all started to approach, groaning and moaning.

"Well...probably," said the Doctor.

He didn't have to tell her twice. Emma let him take her hand as the shot off to the exit. However, it seemed it really was a trap. The exit was closing as limestone moved out to block their way.

"No!" cried the Doctor as they hit the door, just as it finished closing.

"Can't you use the screwdriver?" Emma suggested as the mummies descended on them.

The Doctor reached into his coat and froze.

"Doctor," said Emma, her voice low, "please don't tell me you dropped your screwdriver."

"Okay."

"So it's in your coat?"

"No, I dropped it."

She groaned and smacked her hands on the wall. "Kalefe! Can you hear us? Let us out!"

The sound of the mummies became louder. A putrid stench filled the room.

"Kalefe! Let us out!"

"Emma, I don't think he's coming back." The Doctor pressed his back up against the wall and Emma did the same.

The mummies got closer and closer. There was no way around them as the formed a wall around the two travelers. Emma thought of her mother as they came up close to them. And, with a mummy's hand outstretched toward her face, she closed her eyes and waited.

* * *

_So sorry for the cliffhanger! I always feel bad ending a chapter with those. I'll try to update as soon as possible!_


End file.
